


Buying Loyalty

by Pixel_Runner



Series: Building Empire [2]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Angst, Anxiety, Bathing/Washing, Eventual Fix It for Vol 2, F/M, Fight or Flight or Freeze or Fawn, Hurt/Comfort, Knitting, Mental Health Issues, Multi, No Magic Cock To Make It Better, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Nudity, Panic Attacks, Past Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Referenced Doctor Who, Referenced Terry Pratchett, Slavery, Slow Burn, Stick A Fork In It Because It's Done, Stockholm Syndrome, Suicidal Thoughts, Termination of Pregnancy, The Relationship is the Adventure, Triggers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-05-28
Packaged: 2018-10-25 05:59:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 48,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10758156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixel_Runner/pseuds/Pixel_Runner
Summary: Yondu has a plan to keep Quill in his place.   All he has to do is control the access the boy has to his addictions. And what does Peter want?AU to Buying Art.  What if Yondu had bought Amelia when he had the chance?Takes place approximately a year or two before Guardians of the Galaxy.





	1. The Purchase

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Tokh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tokh/gifts).



> Italics indicate English, plain text is Common

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prequel is the chapter named Prequel in Bio Files in this series.
> 
> 'Cuz I'm all creative with my naming skills like that.

“Up!”

 

Karen had learned that word.  She grabbed on to the bars of her cage and pulled herself upright.

 

“Walk!”

 

She knew that one too.  Three little steps forward, enough so that they could see her walk but not enough for them to grab her through the bars.  It was two guys this time.  One was blue with something red sticking out of his skull.  The other could pass as an Earthling.  A scrawny, scruffy earthling, but he could still pass.  They were arguing with the…. seller.

 

He opened her cage and grabbed her arm and pulled her out.  Then he spun her around and slammed her face first against the cage of the bear-like humanoid next to hers.  She tried to block out the hands touching her back.  The last time she was out of her cage the woman looking at her had bitten Karen’s shoulder hard enough to draw blood before spitting and going on to the next choice.  A tiny pink girl had left with that woman.  Karen felt ill wondering too hard what happened to her.

 

She had no idea how long she had been here.  She suspected it was at least a couple of weeks.  Her body was still bleeding from the abortion, so it couldn’t have been more than a month.  He breasts had produced milk for a couple of days when she first got here, but that had ended a while ago.  The cuts on her wrists from the cuffs had healed and reopened several times already.

 

Hands trailing down her back and over her ass.  Think of something else.  Count backwards from 100 by threes in Russian.  Someone kicked her feet apart.  To turn a heel on a sock divide the stitched in half and knit to two stitches from the end, make a twin stitch then turn your work.  Fingers between her legs, close your eyes, try not to cry or make a sound, purl to two stitches before the end, make a twin stitch and turn your work.

 

The blue man said something that made the seller angry.  He started shouting. There was a lot of shouting.  The blue man smiled and smirked and never raised his voice.  Karen turned her head to look at him.  The seller slammed her against the cage again.  Where her cheek hit the bars a little cut opened and blood started to run down her face.  She made no move to stop it.  The blue guy laughed, said something and pointed to it.  The seller turned her to face him, made a disgusted noise and threw her back into the cage so hard she skidded across the floor sanding some of the skin from her right side.

 

The blue guy knelt next to the cage.  “ _If I’m paying that price, I want one with better tits, and less damage.”_

 

The guy who could be from Earth said something to the seller who calmed down and nodded.  They shook hands and the man paid him.  When the cage door opened, it was the blue guy that grabbed her arm and led her out.  They walked through a warehouse full of stuff and on to a ship. When the airlock opened to let them board, Karen was faced with approximately twenty large men in dirty uniforms watching her.  One of them said something and they all laughed.  The man holding her tightened his grip on her arm as her steps faltered.

 

He marched her through a series of hallways and into a shower room.  There was a naked…  honestly, other than alien, Karen had no idea how to describe the being.  It wasn’t recognizable as male or female. Blue guy said something and the lizard person turned off the water and left.

 

Once they were mostly alone, her new owner set her on the floor, then walked over to the wall with the hooks and hung up his coat, then his shirt.  He handed his gun belt to the skinny guy.  He took off his boots and socks so that he was standing there in a pair of leather pants and nothing else.

 

 _“The way I see it,”_ he said _, “is either you can let me hang those cuffs from that hook_.” he pointed at the ceiling, “ _and let me wash you.  Or,_ ” he paused and crouched to make eye contact, “ _I can bring in six of the boys and-“_

 

_“no”_

 

He nodded, walked toward her and reached up to pull down the hook.  He grabbed the cuffs, the skinny guy grabbed her around the ribs, her skin writhed beneath his hands, and he lifted her body so that the blue guy could hang her from the hook.  With her arms stretched all the way up, she could manage to stand on flat feet but not actually get away.

 

He turned on the water.  It seemed to actually be water and fell straight down from the ceiling.  It was colder than was comfortable.  Karen tried to find a way to hide her face.

 

He was about six inches taller than her and he was standing way too close.  He reached up and washed her hands and wrists, then worked his way down her arms. He nodded at someone behind her, “ _You wanna get me a stack of wash clothes?”_

 

“ _Sure thing, boss.”_

 

_“There are only four people on this boat who speak English.  You, me, Kraglin and Peter.  You gonna to have to learn the local language, girl.”_

 

Karen nodded.

 

He caught a wash cloth and started at her hands again.  The cloth came away orange.  “ _It’s the disinfectant the slavers use.”_   he explained.  He seemed to notice her shivering at this point.  “ _Warm it up a bit will you?”_

 

He was surprisingly gentle.  He was also incredibly thorough, wiping carefully around her eyes and around every fold of her ears. He scrubbed through her hair.  Having him wash her arms wasn’t too bad.  Washing her face was a bit uncomfortable.  She kept expecting him to cover her mouth with the wash cloth.  She completely lost it when he got past her shoulders though.  She squeezed her eyes shut and cried as he washed her breasts.  He didn’t say anything but walked around to wash her back next. There was a pile of three or four orange clothes on the floor before he even got to her waist.

 

He stopped, and leaned in so that his chin was on her shoulder and his lips were level with her ear.  “ _You know why I’m doin’ this?”_

 

Karen didn’t say anything, but shook her head, no.

 

“ _Couple a reasons.  The boys are watching and I want ‘em to know that you are mine.”_ He ran his hand down her side as he said this. _“An’ I wanna know how broked up you are.  If I need to get you to a medisicker, that needs to happen ‘fore we get too far from_ Terra.”

 

Karen said nothing.  She didn't believe for a moment that she was getting a doctor.

 

“ _This part next?”_ he ran his hand over her ass.  “ _And get it over with?  Or start at yur feet and work up?”_

 

Karen ignored that too. It was a trap.  The torturer who asked, “shall I break the fingers on your right hand or your left?”  If you answered then you were participating in your own torture.  He was going do to as he liked.  She wasn't going to be able to stop him.  She wasn’t giving him the out later that she had asked him to.

 

He started washing her ass, he slid his leg between hers and spread her feet apart. Karen closed her eyes and silently recited the second act of MacBeth.  The cloth wiped her carefully before falling to the floor.  A fresh one ran over her belly then over her pubic bone.  He stepped around in front of her and dropped to his knees. He put his hands on her hips then hooked her left leg and draped it over his shoulder and began to carefully wash her folds.

 

She actually remembered, if she concentrated, most of the dagger soliloquy.  He was finished and washing her thighs before she got to the end of the act.  Calves and feet went comparatively quickly.

 

When he was done, he knelt in front of her, soaking wet, and asked.  “ _What’s yur name girl?”_

 

He’s going to hit me if I don’t answer, she thought.  Then she remembered David’s threat.  The only way the name Karen Green would mean anything to anyone out here was if she went by it.  She pressed her lips together as tight as she could and shook her head.

 

He watched her for a moment then said, “ _I’m Yondu.”_


	2. Art Therapy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ***All the trigger warnings.***
> 
> Karen actually talks about the stuff she doesn't want Drax to know in the other series. It is still fresh and raw and she hasn't had any time to figure out how to cope with it. This is some dark stuff.

Karen looked down at the man kneeling before her.  She nodded.  He wrapped his arms around her and stood up, lifting her so she could unhook her arms.  His body was wrong.  Alien.  He had some sort of horizontal seem just below his costal line but above his navel.  She was getting used to the blue.  There seemed to be a lot of blue people once you left earth.

 

As she was lowering her arms, he adjusted her so they went around his neck.  He changed his grip so that he was carrying her in the classic sci-fi cover shot maneuver that was ergonomically ridiculous.  She would rather walk, but she was in no position to point out that this was a back injury waiting to happen.

 

This whole side of his face had cross hatching ritually carved into it.  HIs back was a mess of scars.  She tensed wondering if she would end up carved like that too.

 

_“Yur OK.  Gonna find you someplace safe to sleep.”_

 

Her stomach took the opportunity to growl loudly.  She blushed.

 

Yondu laughed.  “ _Yeah,  we can do something about that, too._ ”

 

He didn’t take the cuffs off though.  She ended up wrapped in a towel in a small suite or stateroom or something eating a sandwich with mystery filling.  The two guys were watching her and talking in the language she didn’t recognize.

 

“Yur gonna need to get her some clothes.”

 

“Yeah, I know.”

 

“She’s got some nice curves on her, but that means she won’t fit anything we have on board.  It’s a month to the next port where we could buy her anything.  Not safe having her run naked ‘round the ship that long.”

 

“ _How’d we get you clothes?”_

 

It took Karen a moment to realize Yondu was talking to her.  She stared at him.  He stared back.  “ _I knows you speak english.  How do we get you clothes?_ ”

 

Karen cleared her throat.  “ _I don’t know how to find clothes in space._ ”

 

He rolled his eyes, “ _How do we get you clothes on_ Terra _?  On Earth?”_

 

_“Are you going to take me shopping?”_

 

_“No.”_

 

She considered this.  “ _Do you have a way to shop on the internet?”_

 

_“Yeah.  We can do that.”_

 

They set her down in front of something that looked like an Apple II.  All beige and chunky with the clicky keyboard and the bad resolution.  It also had the fasted response time she had ever seen.  From there shopping was fast.  Amazon has Levi’s, Chucks, T-shirts, Fruit of the Loom panties, a sports bra and a wool blanket sweater.

 

Yondu looked at the list and multiplied everything by three.  “ _You need socks?_ ”  Her response to that question was wrong.  Her whole body stiffened and her hands clenched into fists and she had to force herself to relax.  That was interesting.

 

“ _Tell me about socks._ ”

 

“ _I don’t usually buy them.  I make them.  I won’t be able to do that anymore.”_

 

 _“You make socks?”_   The disbelief in his voice was obvious. She didn't know what to say to that so she just hung her head and said nothing.  “ _Show me._ ”

 

Instagram #operationsockdrawer.

 

“ _Fuck me!  You do this?_ ”

 

“ _As a hobby.  For myself._ ”

 

“ _Huh.  So can you buy that stuff from the same place as the clothes?_ ”

 

Her favourite kind of needles were easy to find, but her favourite kind of sock yarn wasn't available on Amazon.  She looked at a couple before finding one that would ship Amazon prime and arrive at the same time as her pants.  She also needed a darning needle and a pair of scissors.

 

“ _This isn't what you want.  You were looking for som’ing different_.  _Show me what you were looking for.”_

 

She did.  He bought one in every colour.  “ _How long does it take to make a pair of socks?_ ”

 

“ _A couple of days if I don’t have other things going on._ ”

 

“ _Pick out whatever stuff you need._ ”

 

“ _Why?_ ”

 

“ _I have found it to be helpful to control the supply of my crews addictions.  If this is yurs, that aint even close to bein’ a spendy one._ ”

 

Karen considered this.  His accent switched on and off a little.  That was a very mercenary thing to say and alternating between giving and withholding of rewards or necessities of life was a good way to encourage Stockholm syndrome.  He had just had his hands all over her, making her cry and now he was giving her things…. She closed her eyes and went very still for a moment.

 

_“What’s going on in that head of yours?”_

 

There wasn’t anything she was going to say out loud about this.

 

“ _You make stuff other ‘an socks?_ ”

 

“ _Not from memory._ ”

 

“ _Huh_.”  He looked thoughtfully at her for a moment.  “ _You need a doctor?”_

 

She shivered and shook her head, no.

 

“ _You lost a squaller.  You sure you don’t need a doc?_ ”

 

“ _I didn’t lose anything.  She was taken from me. By a doctor.  Who stood by and watched as the men who brought me to him raped me and made jokes about how dead baby makes good lube.”_ Karen took a deep breath.  _“The only thing a doctor could do for me is a whole lot of antidepressants, but if you are going to control them, not being meticulous about taking them on time is a good way to end up suicidal.  More suicidal.”_   Karen stopped talking.  She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms tightly around herself and sat there shivering.

 

“ _Why’d they go and do that then?_ ”

 

It was the other guy asking.  Yondu was just watching her.

 

“ _Turns out my hus… the father wasn’t …_ ”  She stopped talking and covered her mouth with the tips of her fingers on her right hand.

 

Yondu reached out and pulled her hand away from her face and held it.  She didn’t open her eyes.  “ _That sweater you picked out.  Can you make something big like that?”_

 

_“If I have a pattern and the right supplies.”_

 

_“Get ‘em.  Yur gonna need som’ing else to think on for a while.”_


	3. Floating, Falling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the purposes of this chapter, bold print indicates Russian. The German is.. well German. There aren't enough fonts, you will have to use Google translate. 
> 
> The song is to the same tune, but it isn't a straight across translation between English and German.

 

No one had slept on the guest bunk in Yondu’s stateroom since Peter was big enough to bunk in with with crew.  Laying in the dark listening to the girl try to cry quietly, Yondu decided that there still wasn't anyone sleeping in it.  He got up and went over to where she was laying and crawled in with her.  “ _You keep your hands out off my pants and I’ll return the favour.”_

 

He repositioned her so he was spooned up against her back.  She was trembling and her skin was crawling everywhere his skin was touching hers.  No.  She wasn’t going to be sleeping tonight, but she was going to have to relearn how to be around people.   Better to get this over with.  In the morning, he called Kraglin to come sit with her while he showered.  Girl was on suicide watch.

 

“She’s gonna need a doctor, Yondu.”

 

“I know that.  Shit.  How do you feel about practicing your Russian?”

 

——

 

They sent a message ahead to their contact in Tomsk and landed a shuttle a little ways out of town.  The cargo bay doors opened and there was a convoy of expensive looking cars waiting for them along with a collection of burly, tattooed men in expensive looking suits.  Karen was wearing a shirt as a dress and a pair of someone else’s underwear.  After a brief discussion between Kraglin and the men, one of them offered her his coat.

 

She shivered as he put it around her shoulders and did up the buttons over the cuffs.

 

It was a short ride into town  Kraglin and the men were swapping gossip and jokes in Russian.  Karen sat silently with her face pressed to the window.  They went to a very nice hotel, not a hospital and a doctor was waiting for them.

 

 **“What do we have here?”**   The Doctor asked.  He was an older guy, a bit of a cross between Hugh Hefner and Larry King.

 

 **“I need something to help her sleep.”** Kraglin answered.

 

**“Call it 175 milligrams of Bupropion hydrobromide extended-release tablets, a two year supply will be, oh, 700 tablets and a Paraguard.  If you can get me 400 micrograms of misoprostol, we can get started.”**

 

Everyone stared at Karen.  She held eye contact with the Doctor.

 

**“That is a very specific list.”**

 

**“Yes.”**

 

**“It will be six hours before the misoprostol kicks in for the paraguard insertion.”**

 

**“Four to six, yes.  I would be willing to try after only three.  In the meantime, someone can find me some clothes.”**

 

**“Were you  a doctor?”**

 

**“No.”**

 

**“What was your name?”**

 

**“I don’t have one.”**

 

'Some clothes' turned out to be what Karen would have considered a fairly trashy bar star minidress.  The man who got it for her, talked Kraglin into taking the cuffs off long enough for her to put it on. His hands ghosted over her tattoos and he rubbed the spot over T7 where a plum flower was tangled up with some oak leaves and again on the lapland poppy on the bottom tip of her left shoulder blade.  When he finished pulling up the zipper he leaned in and kissed the back of her neck.  She took a few steps forward, away from him and held out her hands for Kraglin to put the cuffs back on.

 

**“I will buy her from you.”**

 

**“She is not mine to sell.”**

 

**“Take my offer to your employer.”**

 

**“You don’t have anything he wants more than her, and he doesn’t have much patience for people touching his things.”**

 

——

 

Peter was still doing inventory on the cargo they had picked up on Earth when Yondu found him.  He had heard the stories about their new guest, hadn't seen her yet.  Wasn’t sure he believed them.  Yondu was very clear about not having women on board. He said they were a distraction and caused nothing but problems when they inevitably got dead.  Which meant who ever they were moving, wasn't staying, so there wasn't really a whole lotta point in Peter bothering to meet the girl.

 

All of this meant he was surprised when Yondu cornered him in the cargo bay 5 and told him he had a mission.

 

“You want me to do what?”

 

“I want you to go collect the parcels we ordered for my new pet and then stop in at one of those fancy underthings stores, Victory Secret or som’ing an buy ‘er som’ing pretty.”

 

“You want me to by lingerie for your pet?”

 

“Yup.  Here’s her measurements.  Get something sexy.”

 

“You’re kidding.”

 

“Nope.  Off you go, boy.”

 

Peter watched him leave.  “All righty then.”

 

——

 

“What took you so long?”

 

“Well, I learned some stuff about your new toy.”

 

“Like what?”

 

“She speaks Russian better ‘en I do.  And she says she ain’t a doctor, but I don’t think the doc who was treating her believed that.”

 

Yondu leaned back in his chair.  “That so.  _You took so long I had to send Peter to get that stuff you ordered.”_

 

_“Thank you.”_

 

_“What the doctor give you?”_

 

_“Two years worth of anti depressants.”_

 

_“You said that if you didn't take them regular, they would make it worse.”_

 

Karen shrugged.

 

Kraglin added, “ _And she talked one of the boys into giving her a music player.  I was gonna take it off her, but…  you know how Peter is.”_

 

_“Yeah.  I know how Peter is.”_

 

_“The music player also has a clock.  I can set a time to remind me to take my meds on time.”_

 

_“Uh huh.  How you gonna power it then?”_

 

Karen’s face fell.

 

“ _Don’t be an asshole, Yondu  We’ll figure it out.”_

 

“Captain, the Milano has docked and Quill is headed to the bridge.”

 

Yondu waved in acknowledgement.  “Bring her around so we are facing the surface.”

 

Karen watched as Earth came into view of the big window.  She walked towards it and pressed her face and hands against the glass.  She started singing quietly under her breath:

 

Gründlich durchgecheckt,

_steht sie da, und_

_wartet auf den Start._

_Alles klar._

_Experten streiten sich_

_um ein paar Daten._

_Die Crew hat dann noch_

_ein paar Fragen, doch --_

_der Countdown läuft._

Effektivität

_bestimmt das Handeln._

_Man verlässt sich blind_

_auf den Andern._

_Jeder weiß genau,_

_was von ihm abhängt._

_Jeder ist im Stress,_

_doch Major Tom_

_macht einen Scherz._

Dann hebt er ab und:

Völlig losgelöst

_von der Erde_

_schwebt das Raumschiff_

_völlig schwerelos._

 

Peter came onto the bridge and saw a small woman silhouetted against the backdrop of Terra from space singing a song that he knew.  He stepped up behind her and joined in, singing loudly:

_Four, three, two, one_

_Earth Below Us_

_Drifting, falling_

_Floating, weightless_

_Calling, calling, home_

 

The woman froze, then spun and faced him.

 

_“Hi.  I’m Peter, people call me Star Lord.”_

 

She stared wide eyed “Ich weiß nicht ... ich kann nicht…”

 

 _“Take a step back, boy.”_ Yondu’s voice was calm but there was no room for discussion.  Karen stood there, trembling a little.  “ _And another.”_

 

Peter did as he was told.  At two steps back she visibly relaxed. “OK, everyone, Girl’s got a two meter perimeter.  Don’t no one get closer than that.” He waited to see that everyone was nodding.  Karen edged around Peter and came to stand near his chair.  He wasn't sure what he thought of that.  The more pressing question was **“How many languages you speak, Girl?”**

 

**“Six.”**

 

**“You speak six languages and you are a doctor?”**

 

**“I’m not a doctor.”**

 

“Huh. **What’s your name?”**

 

Karen didn't answer, but Kraglin did, “ **She told the doctor she didn’t have one.** ”

 

“ **Pick one.”**

 

 **“** _Amelia.”_

 

 _“_ **Amelia meet Peter.  He’s going to teach you** Common **.  You are going to teach him Russian.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back posting this note a couple of days after the chapter went up. I am usually kind of vague in my character descriptions because everyone has their own preferences and if I describe in detail someone who is sexy or scary or weird to me they might not evoke the same feeling, based on my description in you.
> 
> However, for me, that doctor was the Stan Lee cameo for the work.


	4. Rince Cycle

Yondu turned to Peter, "You get that stuff I asked you to?"

 

"Yeah."

 

"Good!  Put it somewhere she won't find it then show her how to wash the stuff she picked out.   Use The Milano. She can have a wash too but don't leave her alone. Girl's on suicide watch.  And don't touch her unless you have to keep her from hurting herself. Understood?"

 

"Yeah. I got it. You're going to have to take the cuffs off if you want her to wash though."

 

Yondu considered this. "An I want you to teach her Common."

 

"How?  I don't speak whatever the hell that was."

 

 _"She understands English just fine. She just don't talk much is all._ You watch her face. She'll let you know when she's scared. _"_ Yondu reached out and grabbed Amelia by the cuffs,  he fumbled in his pocket and pulled out the key. " _Pete heres gonna take you, get you cleaned up. Don't go wandering off. Understand?  You do what he says but you tell me about it when you get back."_  

 

She nodded. 

 

_"C'mon."_

 

As she was following Peter, she was wishing Yondu had sent her with Kraglin instead. Peter was pretty and, right now, she sure as hell didn't want to be alone with pretty. Ward was so pretty he looked like a Ken doll. Rumlow was ruggedly handsome. Rollins had runway cheekbones. Really, Sitwell was the only one who could walk unnoticed down a street and even he wasn't bad looking.  Right now Yondu's alien appearance and uneven teeth were surprisingly comforting. 

 

She felt her heart rate jump. " _I need a moment."_

 

_"What?"_

 

She stopped walking and put her back to the wall. She closed her eyes and covered her face with her hands.  Her shoulders shook like she was going to cry.  She forced herself to stop and took careful breaths in through her nose, out through her mouth. Peter just watched. After a moment, she opened her eyes, avoided looking at him and nodded. 

 

" _What the hell was that?"_

 

 _"I'm fine. Let's go."_  

 

Peter shrugged and kept walking. _"How'd you end up here anyway?"_

 

_"Kraglin bought me."_

 

_"Nah. Yondu bought you, Kraglin just paid.  Do you know why he bought you?"_

 

There wasn't really anything she could say to that.  

 

_"He has a strong policy against having women on board.  Plus he's usually tighter that a duck's ass when it comes to spending money so I'm not sure what he's up to."_

 

She still didn't know what to say to that. 

 

" _First couple of years I was on board, the crew kept threatening to eat me."_   Peter looked at her. That's when he noticed the slightly infected bite mark on her shoulder.  At that point he stopped talking. 

 

\----

 

Back on the bridge, Kraglin waited until they were out of earshot. " _You sure that's a good idea?  Boy's got pull but only 'cuz he's Terran. Everyone likes a novelty fuck now and then. Thing is, she's Terran too. He ain't gonna be no novelty for her."_

 

_"She ain't gonna be looking to fuck for a while.  Give'er a chance to get used to the boy."_

 

_"Two meter perimeter, huh?"_

 

_"Yup."_

 

_\----_

 

Peter was leading her onto a ship. She wasn't so sure about that. He noticed her hesitation at the cargo bay doors. _"It's ok. This is my ship, the Milano.  Those of us who have our own ships just live on them. It's more private than crew quarters."_   Peter grinned at her; she flinched. 

 

They walked on board and Peter rushed to hide the Victoria Secret bags. Then he tried to quickly tidy up the dirty dishes on the table. And the counter. And in the sink.  _"Have a seat."_ She pulled out the chair he pointed to, moved the tablet playing girl on girl Kree/Xandarian porn from the seat and sat down.  Peter snatched it out of her hand as she went to set it on the table and stuffed it in a drawer.  _"Sorry, I don't get many gir- um, guests."_

 

She didn't say anything, she just sat there head slightly bowed, hands folded in her lap, waiting. 

 

Peter watched her until the silence became uncomfortable then said, " _Oh! Right! Your clothes!"_

 

He found her the Amazon box and set it in front of her. 

 

She looked at it for a moment before starting to pick at the tape. 

 

 _"Let me get that for you."_   Peter pulled out a pocket knife. She jumped slightly as he flicked it open. He cut through the tape and pushed the box back to her.   He watched as she stared at the box before opening it. She pulled out the packing paper and folded it carefully. Then took out the invoice.  Then carefully pulled out the bags of clothing. 

 

Peter had no patience for that. He would have just dived in. As it was he was ripping open the bags and pulling off the tags and sorting everything into two piles. " _Washing machine is this way."_

 

She didn't immediately follow him,  she dug in the box and came up with a tiny pair of scissors, a little tube and a black card in a plastic envelope. She held them like treasure for a moment, then stood up. 

 

_"What you got there?"_

 

Now she looked at him. Peter took a step back. It wasn't very often he saw someone THAT afraid. Looking like she was about to cry, she whispered, " _please don't take them."_

 

_"Whoa!  Nope!  All yours!"_

 

_"Thank you."_

 

Peter looked at the shirts as he was loading them into the machine. It was better than looking at her face just now.  He wondered if that was how he had looked while Yondu was going through his backpack that first night.  " _Captain America, huh?  That's pretty retro."_

 

_"Yondu says I'm supposed to teach you Russian."_

 

_"Yeah?"_

 

She nodded.  He could see she was working up to asking something. He could also see the moment where she gave up.  He wanted to tell her it would be OK, but he had no idea if that was true.  He was pretty sure she wasn’t just here to teach him Russian, but he had no idea what that blue bastard was up to.

 

“ _Washing machine only takes a few minutes.  Wanna listen to some music?”_

 

She nodded and pulled a little thin box out of her dress and did something to it.  It started play Major Tom.

 

“ _Cool!  What is that?”_

 

She gave him a look.  “ _It’s an iPod.”_

 

 _“What is that?_ ”

 

She frowned.  “ _Um… a tiny touch screen computer.”_

 

_“Huh.  They didn’t have those when I … left Earth.”_

 

_“When was that?”_

 

_“1988.”_

 

_“How old where you?”_

 

_“Ten.”_

 

She stared at him in horror for a moment, then dropped her gaze.  Ten minutes later when the laundry was done, they still hadn’t spoken more.

 

Peter watched as she loaded the jeans into the washer.  She carried the clean clothes back to the kitchen and folded them, carefully putting them into the box.  She kept out the Captain America t-shirt, a bra and a pair of panties. Then she slowly and painfully reached for the zipper on the back of her dress.

 

“ _Let me help._ ”

 

“ _Thank you.  I haven’t been able to move my shoulders since I was picked up by-_ “ she stopped herself.  “ _In a while._ ”  She finished at last.

 

Peter fumbled with the zipper.  “ _Yondu says you are supposed to have a shower.”_ Amelia tensed.  That didn’t make the next part any easier.  “ _He also said I wasn't to leave you alone.”_

 

She nodded.  “ _Where?”_

 

_“There’s a couple of Chem-showers on board.   If you want a water shower, we’ll have to go back to the main ship.”_

 

_“If I go back to the main ship, how many people will be watching me?”_

 

_“Just me.  I’ll kick everyone else out.”_

 

_“Water showers are nicer.”_

 

 _“Yes they are.”_ Peter remembered, “ _Wait! You have another box!_ ”

 

He pulled out his knife.

 

“ _No!_ ”  Amelia squeaked.

 

He turned to look at her.  She hung her head.  “ _Please don't cut that one.”_

 

“ _OK_.”  He was about to ask why when the washer beeped off.  She folded the jeans up and put them back in the box too.  He carried the unopened box to Yondu’s stateroom, she carried her clothes.  She tucked everything into a corner and she took the one outfit she had picked out with her.  The shower was empty and she hurried through her wash.  Peter took the opportunity to look at her tattoo.  Aside from the bite mark on her shoulder there were also random bruises all over her and a cut on her cheek. 

 

Once she was dried and dressed, Peter asked, “ _What’s next?_ ”

 

“ _I’m supposed to teach you to speak Russian._ ”

 

He gave her a once over. “ _C’mon_.”  He led her back to the Milano and dug through his clean laundry. “ _You forgot to order socks,_ ” he said, handing her a pair.


	5. Not Dobby

Amelia looked at the socks he had just given her. “ _They are clean.”_   Peter watched her. _“It’s OK.  You can take them.”_

 

_“You are giving me your socks?”_

 

_“Well, I don’t want your feet to get cold.  What’s wrong?”_

 

She just shook her head.  She started to say something but stopped herself.

 

“ _Don’t do that.  Just tell me.”_

 

 _“Can I please have something to eat?”_   As soon as the words were out she whimpered and covered her mouth.

 

Peter frowned.  The girl cowered.  “ _The Milano isn’t fully stocked, the best  I could do would be a ration bar.  We can go see what’s on offer in the kitchen_.”

 

She shook her head no.

 

Peter dug through the cupboards and came up with a couple of ration bars.  He gave her one and opened the other for himself.  Then he opened the chill chest and dug out some of the juice he kept around as mix.  He watched her eat.  About half way through, she passed the bar to the other hand and had a drink.  If he hadn't been paying attention he would have missed where she pocketed the half bar.

 

 _“You’re not very good at that.”_ Peter waited until she was looking at him to continue, _“If you eat it, it’s yours.  If you hide it, someone can get it off you and it’s gone.”_

 

She dug out the ration bar and finished it.

 

“ _When was the last time you ate?”_

 

_“Before lights out yesterday.”_

 

Peter frowned again.  _“When was the last time you slept?”_

 

She just shrugged.  Peter refilled her cup and slid the rest of his bar towards her.  “Y _ondu isn’t good at taking care of people.  You will need to remind him to feed you until he gets the hang of it again._ ”

 

She didn’t reply to that, but instead said, “носки _is socks. Food is Пища.”_

 

 _“Stop.  I need to teach you_ Common _more than you need to teach me Russian.  Socks are_ socks.”

 

She hesitantly repeated the word.  He worked through socks, food and cup before turning his back on her to wash the mountain of dishes he had been ignoring.  Each one he held up and named in both English and Common before washing it.  He could hear her voice getting more and more quiet and sleepy.  Eventually, he lost her.  He turned and saw her head in her hands, asleep on his table.  He was finishing washing his dishes, when Yondu stormed on board. 

 

“How long does it take to wash some god damn clothes?”

 

Amelia woke and jumped up and backed away, looking at the floor.

 

‘Yondu, did you remember to feed your pet today?”

 

“What? ‘Course I did!”

 

“You had breakfast with her?”

 

“No.  Kraglin sat with her while I washed up and got ready.” Yondu stopped mid bluster and looked thoughtful.  “She was away for eight hours on Terra.  _What Kraglin feed you for lunch?”_

 

She just shrugged.

 

“I gave her a ration bar and some juice.  Did you at least show her where the mess hall is?”

 

“I aint lettin’ her wander the ship alone!”

 

“Then, I would suggest, you need to come up with a plan to make sure she eats.”

 

Yondu grinned.  Peter got nervous.  “Boy!  You just got yerself appointed pet feeder.  Come get her when you go for grub and bring her back when yur done.”

 

Peter groaned.  “I got stuff to do!  She’s your pet!  If I gotta take care of her, then I can’t go out on missions, and you are cutting my earning potential!”

 

Yondu considered this.  Boy had a point.  “We’re a week in dead space, you can renegotiate when there other work to do.”  He beckoned to the girl, “Come here.”  She crept forward looking between him and the boy trying to figure out what was going on.  He grabbed her wrist.  She obediently held out the other one for the cuffs.

 

Peter piped up with, “Her shoulders are so stiff from wearing those all the time, she can’t reach behind her anymore.”

 

“She tell you that?”

 

“She couldn’t get out of that dress to have a shower.”

 

“She ask you for help or did you just do it?”

 

“I asked first.”

 

Yondu nodded, “ _You need to eat again?  Or you good ’til morning?”_

 

_“I… can wait until morning.”_

 

Peter interrupted at that point.  “ _Terrans need five ration bars in a 30 hour day.  She’s had one and a half._ ”

 

Yondu nodded, “ _Take her to the mess, get ‘er fed, bring her to my room when she’s done.”_   He let go of her wrist and left.

 

Peter looked at her.  “ _Need a minute or are you ready to go?_ ”

 

“ _I’m fine._ ”

 

“ _Look, food in the mess in reliably mediocre.  It’s mostly veg, since that’s a byproduct of the system that recycles our waste water and scrubs the air.  The odd time we get something good, it turns into a bit of a feeding frenzy.  You’d be a lot safer just staying out of that.”_

 

Peter got her a bowl of the brown grey stew that was today’s offering, and a big cup of water. _“It takes more liquid than you would think to digest that.”_

 

She ate in silence.  When she was finished, she got up and bussed her tray the way she had seen the others doing.  Peter was amazed that the crew was careful to actually maintain the ordered two meter perimeter.  He hadn’t been given that luxury growing up.  Yondu was up to something with this girl, and it seemed like the Captain had dropped him right in it.

 

_“Now what?”_

 

 _“Yondu’s cabin is right this way.”_ Peter hesitated, _“The thing with the socks,  it meant something.  I didn't get it.  Can you explain?”_

 

“ _There’s these books that were made into a series of movies, about wizards.  Anyway, in the books there is a slave race called house elves.  One of them, Dobby, is freed when his owner is tricked into giving him a sock.  Inside the fandom, it has kind of become a thing.  Laundry rooms have tiny clotheslines for unmatched socks.  You can get signs saying Free the House Elves.”_ She took a breath.  _“But, I’m not Dobby and I’m never getting out of here.”_

 

Peter didn't know what to say to that, but he had no time to think of anything.  They had reached Yondu’s cabin.  _“Here we are.  You can’t just knock.  All the doors are pressure doors.  There is an intercom system, it has a low setting to mimic the amount of sound transfer of a regular door.  Some people leave that on, so they can hear what’s going on in the hallway.”_

 

The door opened, revealing Yondu.  Peter ignored him and continued his explanation,  _“Over here is a touch panel.  You can knock on the panel and it will let the person inside know you are requesting entry.  Kind of like a doorbell for people who have never heard of doorbells.  If you are allowed access, you put your hand on it to open the door.  It’s like a security thing and a doorknob all in one.”_

 

“She eat?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Then fuck off.”

 

Yondu grabbed her arm and hauled her into his room.  He pulled her to the back corner where the can was and gave her something that looked like a cross between a tooth brush and a tentacle monster.  “ _Brush yur teeth, wash yur face, get ready for sleep.  It’s late. I’m tired.”_

 

She did as directed and came out of the tiny half bath.  Youndu pointed at the pile of blankets on the floor. “ _I’m too old to be sleeping on the floor!  We ain’t doin’ that again.  Understood?”_

 

She nodded silently and wiggled out of her jeans.  Yondu felt his dick start to harden.  Fuck, her ass did nice things during that maneuver.  He kept watching as her hand snaked up under the T-shirt and tried to reach the clasp of her bra.  She whimpered a little as she couldn’t stretch that far.

 

“ _Need some help?”_

 

She tensed, but nodded.

 

“Come here.”  He patted the bed. For a moment she didn’t move.  Yondu realized he was speaking Common and was about to try again when she came and sat on the bed.  “Good girl.”  He pushed up her shirt and ran his fingers over her tattoo. That was some fine work someone had done. Her skin shivered under his touch. He froze and waited for that to stop. When it had, he undid her bra.

 

_"Your back hurting, girl?"_

 

She nodded. 

 

_"You want...  you let me rub it some?"_

 

Nod. 

 

Her skin was thin and soft and bruised up. He was fair certain he could add a few more while hardly trying.  _"Piece of shit medisicker didn't fix these."_

 

 _"The bruises?"_   She asked. _"What did you expect him to do about them?"_

 

_"I expected him to use that gizmo to heal them up."_

 

She considered this. _"We don't have that gizmo on Earth,  but if you have one, I'd love to see it."_

 

_"We don't have a medic on board."_

 

_"Hmm.  Is that why I'm here?"_

 

_"You said you weren't a doctor."_

 

 _"I'm not."_ She sighed. 

 

The sound went straight to Yondu's libido. " _Go to sleep."_ He said and pushed her off the bed. He was keeping his hands off her, but that didn't stop him from appreciating the view as she walked over to her blanket nest on his floor. 

 

He turned off the lights and watched as she blinked and looked blindly around the room. Yup, Pete has shit night vision too.   Yondu looked at the far wall of his room. With the lights on, it just looked like a shiny black wall.  With the lights out, he could see the stars. 

 


	6. Survival Instinct

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of Amelia's nightmares and panic attacks with be at least based on Buying Art, if not complete cut and pastes. Same person, same triggers. It's just that the crew of the Eclector will have to handle them instead of the crew of the Milano. I'm kind of having fun with two different sets of people reacting to the same event, i.e.: Amelia sleep talking/screaming.

“ _No! NO! Don’t!  Stop!  Please, Stop_!”

 

Yondu jolted awake to the sound of screaming.  _"Wake up, girl!  You're dreaming! Wake up!"_

 

She exploded out of the covers, flinging herself out of them and sitting bolt upright.  Yondu watched her, panting, her breasts heaving, her nipples crinkling in the cold air. He groaned. 

 

She looked around wildly.  _"I can't see."_

 

_"Yur safe. Go back to sleep."_

 

_"I... I don't want to be alone."_

 

_"Yeah well, right now, I personally want to shove my dick so far up your ass you can taste when I come, but ain't neither of us getting want we want tonight. You are safe. Go the fuck to sleep."_

 

Yondu walked past her to the head without her even noticing and proceeded to take matters in hand.  When he was done, he came out to find her coiled around herself, pressed so tight to the wall her shoulder blades may have been trying to tunnel through. _"Relax. I ain't no rapist.”_ He hesitated before adding, _“But if you go telling' people that, I will have to prove us both wrong and neither of us want that.  You understand?"_

 

She nodded, then said, _"Yes."_

 

Yondu lay there, lost in thought. This is why he didn't keep women on his ship. He might not ask his crew to drop their drawers, but they had to blend in. None of this soft nonsense.  Fuck, any warm body would do in a pinch, but having her here being all distracting... 

 

 _"It's not going to work."_ She said. 

 

Yondu panicked a little.  Terrans weren't normally mind readers. _"What?"_ he demanded. 

 

She sighed. _"I'm not going to tell, but some of your crew have a better sense of smell than you or me. You smell like sex and I don't.  Believe me, I'm happy you aren't...  but if you want to hide that you're... that I'm safe, next time wipe some on my back or something."_

 

" _Why'd you say that about my crew?"_

 

_"I have seen at least two people where the end of their noses are covered in olfactory cells. That makes it easier to smell."_

 

_"You a vet?"_

 

_"No."_

 

Yondu thought about this. _"You want me to wipe my jizz on you?"_

 

She rolled her eyes. _"No!  But there is some weird territorial crap going on that I don't understand and I would rather wear a few bodily fluids than get raped again."_

 

Yondu considered this. _"You ain't stupid are you?"_

 

_"I don't even know anymore."_

 

_"What do you need to sleep?"_

 

_"Is that a trick question?"_

 

_"No."_

 

_"Damned if I know.  Years of professional therapy?  A night light and a teddy bear?"_

 

_"Fuck no!  That thing shit all over the place. Ain't having no teddy bear."_

 

_"I have literally no idea what you are talking about now."_

 

Yondu turned the lights up a bit. _"Come here, girl."_

 

She flattened herself closer to the wall. _"Given your recent revelations-"_

 

_“Wall's cold. I'm warm. You're right. You need to smell like me. Don't be stupid. Get over here. Same rules as last night."_

 

_\----_

 

Peter walked in to find Amelia face down on the bed with an equally unconscious Yondu sprawled across her back. 

 

"Fuck! Yondu! Lock the door!"

 

"Get out, boy!"

 

The door slammed shut as Peter left. 

 

Yondu laughed and sat up. _"Get dressed. Take your meds. Time for breakfast. Try to look all fucked out."_

 

The girl raked her hands through her shaggy grown out hair. _"I should have gotten a brush.  Did you leave the door unlocked on purpose?"_

 

Yondu laughed again. 

 

The girl…” _What you say your name was again?”_

 

_“Amelia”_

 

Amelia pulled her jeans back on and carefully struggled into her bra.  “ _Breakfast first, clean clothes later, if that’s OK.  Will I be able to get back in here to change later?”_

 

_“I’ll get that set up after breakfast.  If Peter ain’t waiting patient like in the hall, I’ll know the reason why.”_

 

Peter was waiting in the hall.  “ _You OK?”_ he asked nervously.

 

Amelia nodded.  “ _Can you teach me to say yes and no?”_

 

 _“Did that bastard hurt you?_ ”

 

She stopped dead and turned to face him.  “ _You said you’ve been here since you were ten.  Did he hurt you?_ ”

 

_“Yondu?  Gods no! He kept the creeps off of me.  Sure, he threatened to feed me to the crew on a regular basis and I got a cuff upside the head when I deserved it, but… I never woke up to him grinding me into the mattress like that.”_

 

Amelia didn’t say anything.

 

Breakfast was oatmeal like substitute.  There were a number of the crew who made a point of walking past the table she was sitting at with Peter.  Yondu turned up later.  The cook gave him a bowl of fresh fruit and a plate of soft cooked eggs.  He gave Peter an angry glare.  “You can slide on over a couple of seats, boy.”

 

He ate the fruit without sharing, but he noticed Amelia’s curious glances and pocketed some for her for later.

 

_“You makin’ socks today?”_

 

_“If I’m allowed to.”_

 

_“What do you need?”_

 

_“Maybe 15 to 20 minutes to get all set up, then I can work anywhere.”_

 

_“What does ‘get all set up’ mean?”_

 

Amelia considered this carefully.  “ _Good sock yarn comes in a skien… in a twist.  I have to wind it into a ball or a cake before I can use it.  I have, um… you got me a ball winder to do that but it is…  you - I have to be careful while using it so that the yarn doesn’t tangle on its self._ ”

 

Yondu nodded, _“Pete can help with that.”_   He stood up.  “Bring her to the bridge when she’s done.”  He left.

 

Amelia bussed his dishes when she cleared for herself.  The cook nodded at her.  She smiled shyly back.  Then she went back to Yondu’s stateroom, dug out her yarn and made Peter be her swift.  He put up with it, even through he wanted to play with the ball winder.  Then she dug out the needles and indicated she was ready to go.

 

Peter asked if she wanted to shower and change first.  She just gave him a look.  Peter walked her up the back staircase and to the bridge.

 

——

 

Yondu had the star charts out, he was planning with the officers where the best place to refuel would be.  Suddenly, Winch closed his eyes and tilted his head up, his nose twitching.  A moment later, Peter and Amelia came around the corner and into the room.  Winch looked at Yondu for a moment before dropping his gaze to the table.

 

“Now what?”  Peter asked.

 

“Find a corner for her to sit in.”

 

“That’s it?  You are going to just put her in a corner?”

 

“Girls on suicide watch.  That means she gets watched.”

 

“If you were some worried about her killing her self, maybe you should have thought about that before you fucked her face down into the mattress this morning.”

 

Yondu whistled, his yaka arrow suddenly half an inch from Peter’s neck.  “Don’t you question me, boy!  I got plans for that girl.  I don’t need to share ‘em with you! Now get off my command deck before I do som’in I’ll regret.”

 

Amelia watched the whole thing with wide eyes.  When Peter left, she took a deep breath and cast on the toes.


	7. Crew Buy In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As told from the point of view of the Chief Maintenance Officer on the Eclector

Winch hadn’t been there when The Captain collected the Terran boy, but the crew members who had still hotly debated the merits of that decision.  However, in the nearly twenty years he had been on the ship he had found Yondu to be calculating and mercenary.  The man played the long con.  He had plots and intrigues that would seem to suddenly come together only for Winch to realize that they had been in the works for months or years.  That hundreds of little, seemingly inconsequential decisions had all been carefully made to lead them to a very profitable conclusion.

 

And while Yondu may play the hard ass, he always took care of his crew, keeping as many of them alive and happy, or at least happy-ish, as possible.  So be knew that, while he might not understand what was going on, the Captain had a plan.

 

Apparently, that plan required keeping this girl alive.  OK, he could go with that.  The part that he did not understand was why did Yondu want to make people think he was boning it.  Winch, however was smart enough not to ask.  And the Captain had just adjusted their timeline so that the crew would have shore leave on a pleasure station.  Perhaps it was time for Winch to try to make himself useful.

 

“You need to feed it now, Captain.”

 

“What?”

 

“Your… pet.  It needs to eat now.”

 

“Only a couple of hours ’til lunch.  She can wait.”

 

“It's hungry now, sir.”

 

“ _You need to eat, girl?”_

 

The woman stared up at him.  “Yes. _Please._ ”

 

Captain glared at him.  “How’d you know that?”

 

“It's starting to stink like hungry, sir.”

 

“What does that mean?”

 

“Don’t know, sir.  Just…  Pete smells different when he’s hungry.  It’s starting to smell like that.”

 

Yondu stormed right up to the woman.  It flinched and Winch could smell its fear.  Captain leaned in close and sniffed.  “I don’t smell anything.  Any one got a ration bar on ‘im?”

 

Kraglin pulled one out of his pocket and offered it to Yondu, who handed it to it.

 

“ _Thank you._ ” it said.

 

Winch watched it eat.  Then at break, he made a point of gossiping about what Peter had said on the bridge and how it stank like the Captain when it came in that morning. It wasn't a lie. It was not the whole truth, but it was not false.   Andrei, who was older and the boss of the house keeping rotation, said that Yondu’s room smelled like sex and that this was the first time he has seen the Captain wash his own sheets.  

 

Krss, who was on breakfast, suggested that the woman had done that.  “Peter was to teach her how do to laundry yesterday and this morning she cleared the Captain’s dishes.”

 

Czar grumbled, “All the fucking a Terra can take and someone to clean up afterwards.  Must be nice to be Captain.”

 

Krss disagreed.  “Captain has a plan.  He always has a plan.”

 

Winch nodded in agreement.  

 

Czar was watching him.  “You gonna be OK with this?  You weren’t happy having a kid on the ship.”

 

Winch shrugged.  “It is fully grown.  I do not object to the Captain’s current treatment of it.  I am free to take my things and go when we dock, if that changes before we make the next out post.  The pitch of its vocalizations in unpleasant, but I do not expect to have to speak with it.”

 

He looked over to where it was eating lunch with Peter.  It was sitting in a bubble of empty space.  No one sat across from it.  Peter was sitting several spaces away.  It looked very isolated.

 

"I am curious what it does with the stick and string." He added.

 

Andrei wanted to say something. Winch could see him working up to it. He waited patiently. 

 

"You know she female, right?  I know you don't really get gender binary pronouns, but "it" is..." Andrei hesitated. If it was anyone but Winch, his next word would be "offensive" but that wasn't how Winch worked. "... for things not people."

 

"It isn't a people. Captain bought it. It is a thing."  Winch explained carefully, as though Andrei was hard of thinking. "If it becomes people and if I am required to interact with it and if it learns Common, I will ask it which pronoun it prefers. But none of those things have happened."  There was no malice in his explanation, it was a simple statement of facts. 

 

Andrei just gave up at that point. 

 

Winch spent the afternoon getting parts lists from all the maintenance crews. The Eclector was a big ship, plus all the M class she carried. There were a lot of maintenance crews. Winch bossed them all because he didn't play favourites and have zero tolerance for bullshit. He didn't care who thought they out ranked who, he only cared that everything kept running. That and his first week on board had earned him a lot of respect from the rest of the crew. 

 

It was back sitting in the corner when he brought the Captain the parts list. He frowned. 

 

"We gonna have a problem, Winch?" Captain asked. 

 

"I don't know, sir. It it your intention to allow its muscles to atrophy further or is this neglect?"

 

"What do you want Winch?"

 

"If you are keeping a pet, it will need to be walked."

 

"I'm kinda busy."

 

Winch considered this. "The Milano requires maintenance. Peter will be busy. It is not important enough to delegate to the first mate."  

 

He paused to think. Yondu waited. "There are few crew members who would not consider it prey.  Or who would not sell access to it to someone who does." He paused again and considered his words before continuing,  "I do not speak Terran. If you instruct it not to squeak at me, I will make time in my day to walk it and insure its safety."

 

"Quill is supposed to be teaching her Common."

 

"And yet he is not here."

 

Yondu considered all of this. 

 

"You feel strongly about this?"

 

"If you are planning on keeping it, yes. If you are letting it atrophy to tenderize it for future consumption, no."

 

Yondu laughed, "She ain't food.  You wanna take her for walks, I trust you to keep her safe."

 

Winch nodded solemnly. 

 

Captain slapped him on the back before turning to his pet. He said something to it that Winch couldn’t understand.

 

It looked up for what it was doing and stared at him.  Then it pressed its lips together and nodded.  

 

Captain kept talking.  Something, something, something, something, Winch, something something. It gave him a look that was half way between questioning and disbelief.  Captain nodded and kept talking.

 

It pushed itself to its feet.

 

“Her name is Amelia.” Captain said.

 

He left the bridge.  It followed him.  The Captain didn’t trust his crew, and that was as it should be.  He had to watch out for mutiny, for crew members not sharing the take fairly, for rivals infiltrating his operation.  A trusting Ravager Captain was referred to by the technical name: Corpse. 

 

Winch, was not the Captain.  He was in charge of maintenance.  Trust was his stock and trade.  If the crew didn’t trust him to make sure the repairs were made, no one would get onto a ship.  So he did the thing the Captain couldn’t.  He took it, Amelia, with him as he made his rounds and let the crew look at her.  

 

He flat out told them that he believed she was part of one of the Captain’s plans.

 

“Yeah,” someone would inevitably say, “his plan to get laid.”

 

Winch always just looked, not bothering to hide his contempt, at which ever crew member suggested that.  “The Captain isn’t that picky.  He will take any warm willing body.  He has never needed a consort before.  Perhaps that is an added benefit, but I do not believe he would spend money on sex.  We are a large enough crew, there is always someone who is likewise in rut”

 

The crew was well aware of exactly how cheap Yondu was.  There wasn’t really a good argument to that.

 

Housekeeping was… well, it wasn't a real job.  It was something for the fighter pilots to do while they were traveling through dead space.  Andrei was in charge because he was too old to be a fighter pilot any more.  He had been with this group of Ravagers since before Yondu came into power.  Like Winch, his no bull shit, no excuses attitude made him good at his job.  

 

He was also really curious about Amelia.  He got up close and looked hard at it.  “Have you heard her speak?”

 

“Yes, Andrei, its voice is somewhat painful.”

 

It gasped, then quickly slammed both hands over its mouth.  Andrei frowned. "What is she doing?"

 

"I believe it was directed not to squeak at me."

 

"What is it- her name?"

 

"Amelia."

 

Andrei held out his hand towards it, "Andrei Mikoyan."

 

Its eyes went very wide.  It squeezed it lips tight together and flung itself at Andrei, hugged him close for a moment before stepping back and changing the colour of the skin on its face to a much redder shade.

 

"What has just happened?" Winch asked. 

 

"I am not sure." Andrei replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Winch's origin story has a referenced child abuse warning, but can be found here:  
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/10558934/chapters/23958963
> 
> Andrei's origin story can be found here:  
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Cosmonauts


	8. Lack of Mental Health Care

Amelia didn’t say anything when Winch brought her back.  She just sat there looking thoughtful.  By the time Pete came to take her to eat, Yondu didn't like her expression, so he went with them.  She sat there staring at her stew, not eating.

 

“ _Don’t like the grub?”_ Yondu asked.

 

“ _I think I’m having a psychotic break.”_

 

Peter just looked confused.  “ _What?_ ”

 

Yondu looked at her.  “ _People don’t generally notice when that happens to them.”_ he offered.

 

“ _I think it’s been happening for about a month now.  I may be coming to the end.  I think that’s why I figured out how to explain the drugs.”_

 

_“Why do you say that?”_

 

_“Because it seems way more rational that I had a traumatic miscarriage followed by post-partum psychosis than that my husband is an alien and that a shadowy government agency trafficked  me to a bunch of other aliens so that I could teach Russian to a hot guy on their ship when they already have a lost cosmonaut on board who just happens to be one of the names I remember from that random research I did on conspiracy theories.”_

 

Yondu considered this.  _“What’s a lost cosmonaut?”_

 

_“It’s the idea that the USSR sent a number of people into space that didn't make it back and then just erased them from the record so that they wouldn’t have to admit to failed human experiments.  One of them was named - allegedly named - Andrei Mikoyan.  Who, I have just hallucinated meeting.”_

 

 _“Andrei from housekeeping?”_ Peter asked.

 

“ _I don’t know.  I didn’t understand what was being said.  But what are the odds that I just met a lost cosmonaut and he is now working as a housekeeper for a band of space pirates?”_

 

Yondu didn’t know what to say to that.  From his point of view, odds looked pretty damn good.  Ravagers had been raiding Terra for a couple of centuries now.  It was completely believable that when Terra started launching things into space, one of his predecessors had taken a prize or two just to see what the locals were up to.  That said, he wasn't going to be able to convince her this was real.  She was right, based on the Terran understanding of the galaxy, what had happened to her was difficult to understand.  He could also understand where it would be comforting to her to believe this was all just a bout of poor mental health that she could recover from and get back to whatever life she had on Terra before she ended up in that shit hole he had bought her out of.

 

He slid his plate over to her.  “ _Eat._ ” he said “ _and tell me about the sock you are making._ ”

 

In the end, she doesn’t really do much of either.  Yondu had Kraglin take her back to his room.  Peter needed cluing in.

 

“I need her alive and I can’t take care of her and run the ship at the same time.  I need you to step up, boy.”

 

“Not my project.”

 

Yondu considered this.  “Give me a year of your best effort.  If she is alive and able to speak Common at the end of that, I will sign over the paper on The Milano to you and you can go do as you please.”

 

Peter looked skeptical.  “It was going to take another three to five years to pay of that ship.  Why the short cut?”

 

“Want me to ask for two years?  I told you, I need her alive and if she is isolated enough that she starts to deny this as reality, she won’t be alive for long.  She already told me she was a suicide risk and, in my experience, when someone tells you they may be prepared to end it, you should believe them.”

 

“If I agree to this, you stop fucking her.  I can’t keep her alive if you’re raping her every night.”

 

“I ain’t done nothing she didn’t ask me for.”

 

“Next time she asks, say no.”

 

Yondu glared at the boy, then nodded.  “Same goes for you.  Keep your hands off.”

 

That was easy enough to say in the cold light of day.  It was harder when the girl was scared and alone in the dark.  

 

When Yondu made it to his cabin, Kraglin had already tucked the girl into her blanket nest, and turned down the lights.  He was sitting silently in the dark listening to her try to cry quietly.

 

“I dint do nothing to hurt her, Captain.”

 

“I know.”

 

After Kraglin left, Yondu went to his desk and pulled out a tablet.  He still had work to do and night setting wouldn’t been enough light for her to see.

 

He noted the time her breathing slowed and noticed how about 25 minutes later she woke scared and disorientated.  Not enough sleep for recovery.

 

“Yondu?”

 

That was new.

 

“ _What you want, hon?_ ”

 

_“I’m…  I don’t like being alone.”_

 

_“Fair enough, but I ain’t no teddy bear to be bedding at night.”_

 

 _“I don’t know what you are.”_ He could barely hear that, like she was mostly talking to herself.

 

He brought up the lights and walked over to where she was sitting on the floor.  “ _You keep saying you’re not a doctor, but you know what your insides look like?  More or less?_ ”

 

Puzzled nod.

 

He used the devise to take her picture, let it run species identification, then looked up anatomy and handed it to her.  “ _That look ‘bout right?_ ”

 

He watched as she looked at the pictures, figured out how to zoom in on the organs, then zoom in further right down to the cellular level.

 

“ _Wow.  Yeah.  This looks right._ ”

 

He took his own picture and handed it back to her.  She spent a hell of a lot more time looking at his guts than she did at her own.

 

“ _You’re marsupial?_ ”

 

“ _Yup._ ”

 

She watched videos of organ function, digestion, sexual function, spent a lot of time looking at various joints and making little humming noises to herself.  In the end she said, “ _Huh_.” and offered the device back to him.

 

“ _Keep it,  it will help you learn_.”  He watched her for a moment.  “ _Not a doctor?  So what the hell did you do back on earth?”_

 

_“I worked for an NGO as a diagnostic tech.  I can collect blood and run tests, I can do x-rays and ECG’s, I'm licensed as a paramedic and …  I’m not a nurse, but …  In the field I had had to help out with a lot of things that would be considered nursing.  Or ortho tech jobs.”_

 

_“What’s an ortho tech?”_

 

_“Orthopaedic technician, bone and joint care, reducing fractures under the direction of a physician.  But I'm not that.  I have just had to spend a lot of time helping out with some of those things."_

 

_“Now explain it like you was talking to a regular person.”_

 

_“I do a bunch of things for emergency medicine.”_

 

_“OK.  That could be useful.”_

 

_"Not really.  I am a tech. I use technology. I don't have any of my equipment here."_

 

_"Hmm...  so when you are looking at my guts on the screen, what do you see?"_

 

_"You have a horseshoe kidney. Your liver is more central.   Your appendix is on the long side.  Most of the systems looked more or less the same.  Except there is no way we are reproductively compatible."_

 

_"You'd be surprised.  I am very good with my hands."_

 

Amelia blushed.  " _Hand jobs don't technically fall under the reproductive category_." She tried to had back the device.

 

_"Keep it.  It will be handy for learning stuff.  Now, if we are gonna be making a habit of you waking up and wanting me, we may need to expand on those ground rules."_

 

Amelia frowned. " _Ok."_

 

_"To start with, I like the feel of your skin. I can think of a few ways to get your rocks off, but I ain't gonna 'till you can do that for yourself again.  And even then, I'll wait for an invitation. I have my reasons for wanting you on my ship and gettin’ some ain’t one of them, but that’s som’ing the boys can understand.  So, just cuz it's there doesn't mean you need to do anything about it.  Understand?"_

 

She blushed, avoided eye contact but nodded. 

 

_"That goes for my crew, too. You just go ahead and spend as much time shaking hands with yourself as you need, but do it in this room and otherwise keep your hands to yourself. Likewise, anyone touches you, I will find out and I will solve that problem."_

 

Nod. 

 

He gave her a long look. _"Why you want to sleep in my bed anyways?"_

 

_"I'm....  well I was married. I haven't slept alone in a couple of years.  I have nightmares and wake up blind and disoriented.  I don't know what to think of you, but I don't want to be alone."_

 

_"Not wanting to be alone is a shitty reason to sleep with someone."_

 

_"It's a shitty reason to fuck someone. I don’t think that’s what we are negotiating.”_


	9. Grooming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm kind of hiding from my other work by writing this one for a while. I'm not happy with how Building Family is going and so this one is getting extra attention. I am over the moon that this work currently has a 10% approval rating. (or at least the kudos = 10% of the hits.) I know that can't last, but I am enjoying it while it does.
> 
> Plus, I'm kind of upset about some of the things in Vol. 2 and the nice thing about write a prequel is that I don't have to worry about anything that happened in that movie. Or about accidentally giving out spoilers for people who are waiting to see it.
> 
> Seriously, though, go see it. I may not love some of the things (one in particular) that the writers did, but I had a great time. The 3D-AVX is worth it if you have the chance.

 

Hands.  Touching her.  Hands touching her everywhere. A hand rubbing her back.  A voice making soft, comforting noises.  Someone warm holding her safe.  Sleep.

 

Amelia woke to a hand gently swirling over her belly.  Yondu was snoring in her ear, his dick was twitching against her thigh. She remembered him saying something like: _just because it’s there, doesn’t mean you have do anything about it._ She lay there for a moment thinking about that.  Whatever his fingers were doing, it was kind of nice. Relaxing.  She went back to sleep.

 

Amelia didn’t wake when Yondu got up.  Not all the way.  She started to, a little, but the call of the bed was too strong and the sheets had her pinned to the mattress.

 

Amelia woke up.  She sat up.  The lights were dim, and she could see Peter sitting in a chair, reading at a battered copy of The Hobbit.

 

 _“Morning.”_ she said.

 

He jumped.  “Um.. hi.”  Then he switched to English.  “ _Morning.  I’m supposed to make sure you get a chance to wash up before breakfast.”_

 

She nodded and pulled a pair of jeans on, then brushed her teeth and gathered up clean clothes.  Peter led her to the gang showers.  

 

There were four… people using them, only three of them had what Amelia would have identified as a penis, although one of those was a hemi-penis, the last seemed to be an avian based life form, but with down, not feathers and no wings.  Mostly, she contemplated the floor and trying not to look at it's feet which were very crow like.  

 

Peter was arguing with them.  “ _Do I need to wait in the hall until everyone else is finished?_ ”

 

“ _That’s what we are discussing.  I think they should finish up and leave, but I am being out voted by people who are arguing you don’t have anything they haven’t seen before._ ”

 

Amelia considered this, “ _So… like a nude beach?  Everyone tries not to stare and you just keep your hands to yourself?”_

 

Peter stared at her.  “ _Um… yes?_ ”

 

“ _Is it going to upset Yondu if I just go with that?_ ”

 

Everyone stopped what they were doing at the sound of the Captain’s name.  She now had the full attention of the room.

 

“ _Um… no?_ ”

 

“ _That doesn’t sound like a very definitive no, Peter._ ”

 

“ _No!  That’s what everyone else does, but they aren’t, I mean… it isn’t… Earth is different._ ”

 

Amelia wanted to say that middle America when you are ten is different, but didn’t think she would win any points on that one.  She picked out a shower head in the corner, hung up her clean clothes, stripped and stepped under the water.  She concentrated on not freaking out.  She had done this before, she told herself, it was fine.

 

The bird creature offered her a bottle of what turned out to be either soap or shampoo.

 

“Thank you.”

 

It seemed startled by that and said something she couldn’t follow.  She turned to look at Peter who was staring firmly at the back wall.  His ears were red.  The bird followed her gaze and made a squawking noise that she was pretty sure was laughter.  Then it called something out to him, he groaned and dragged a hand over his face.

 

“ _What did he say?_ ”

 

“ _You’re fine. He’s teasing me._ ”

 

Amelia finished washing up. Even with trying to untangle her hair, it didn’t take her long, but there was full turn over in the other bathers while she was in there.  The avian took its shampoo and left as soon as Amelia was done with it.  People were trying not to stare at her and she was trying to to stare back.  It seemed to be curiosity all around.  No one was looking predatory. 

 

Someone called out a question as she was struggling into her bra.  She turned to look at something that looked like a Sasquatch.  Peter replied.  It didn’t seem happy with that and gestured angrily at Amelia while repeating the question.  She tried to get dressed a little faster, pulling clothes on over not quite all the way dry skin.

 

It came over, pushed Peter and started shouting.  Someone else grabbed it and spun it to face her.  Once it made eye contact, it forced itself to relax.  The third person was bright yellow and was clearly trying to intercede between Peter and Sasquatch man.  Suddenly all three of them where looking at her.

 

Amelia swallowed, “ _What?_ ”

 

“ _Dave wants to know if you agreed to the tattoo or did a previous owner do that to you?”_

 

_“His name is DAVE?”_

 

Dave nodded and repeated his question.  

 

“ _O…kay… I agreed, I mean I wanted them, I paid for them.  It isn’t one tattoo, though, each flower was added one at a time.   There is one for each area, country or whatever, that I worked or lived in._ ”

 

When Peter translated, that caused a reaction.  Eventually, he translated, “ _That’s a lot of places._ ”

 

“ _I’ve had a pretty awesome life… well, until recently_.”

 

At that point further discussion was cut off when Winch walked in.  Everyone was suddenly in a hurry to leave.  Winch nodded to Amelia and rumbled something at Peter, who looked like he was going to argue for a moment.

 

Amelia finished tying her shoes.

 

Peter grabbed her arm and dragged her out of the shower.

 

“ _What was that?_ ”

 

“ _He doesn’t like the way Tam’s soap smells on you. He said I have to let you use mine._ ”

 

Amelia sniffed her skin.  She couldn’t smell anything.  “ _It’s unscented._ ”

 

“ _Not to Winch._ ”

 

At breakfast, Amelia learned the words, sit, stand, eat, bowl, spoon, table, bench and the name for the food that was served.  The not quiet Oatmeal.  Peter said the word so dismissively, he had probably taught her to call it gruel.  She also learned shirt, pants and shoes.

 

Amelia had learned a new language through immersion before.  That was how she learned both Arabic and Portuguese.  That said, Peter was a rubbish teacher and a worse student.  He had no interest in learning the Russian names for things.  Eventually, her head hurt and she needed to call a break.

 

Peter got her some water.   “ _You need to drink a lot here. You need water to make the food work and the air is really dry.  You will get a lot of nosebleeds until Yondu thinks to find you a medic to fix that.”_

 

Amelia dug out the device. " _Yondu told me I could use this to learn stuff, I I don't know how it works."_

 

Peter showed her how it worked but gave her strict instructions not to scan any of the crew, explaining that even Yondu wouldn't be able to keep her safe if she got caught doing that.   He also showed her how to play a game that developed literacy skills. She spent the afternoon sitting in her corner on the bridge alternating between that and knitting her socks. Occasionally, people would come over and stare at her, but that wasn't too different from knitting in public back home. 

 

At lunch, Winch came over and had words with Peter.  There was a heated debate, were Amelia recognized the word shower, and Winch kept pointing at her.  Peter was looking upset. Amelia pitched her voice as low as it would go and asked, " _what's going on?"_

 

They both stared at her.  She sighed, pressed her lips together and looked away. 

 

Winch started talking to Peter again. " _How did you know to do that?"_

 

Amelia pressed a finger to her lips. 

 

" _Your deep voice is ok.  How did you know?"_

 

 _"I didn't, but his voice is deep and Yondu said mine was painful for him so.."_ she rumbled at him.  " _I would want to have to try to speak like this for very long."_

 

Peter translated to Winch then said, _"He is quite adamant that you need to wash Tam's soap off."_

 

" _Woo hoo, two showers in one day!_ " was her sarcastic reply. " _It isn't going to help. I can't smell anything. I won't know when I am no longer offensive."_

 

Peter translated that. 

 

"Tell her she isn't offensive,  she just make my nose itch and I want to take her for a walk after lunch again."

 

While Peter was juggling both sides of the conversation, Yondu came over and demanded to know what was going on.  Once he was all caught up, he took his food and Amelia back to his room. 

 

 _"I wasn't expecting Peter to take you to the gang showers."_ He hesitated. " _My fault.  I took you there the first day so people could watch. An' Gods know I've spent enough time telling everyone they can't use my shower.  He said you did ok. You ok?"_

 

_"No. But that isn't the showers fault.  Or anyone who was in there.  I want to scrub my skin off and start over. But I can't and that wouldn't help.  I can understand why ritual cleaning is a cliche in sexual assault cases though."_

 

It wasn't that Yondu had forgotten about that, it was just that he had put it out of his mind.   He considered his next words carefully. " _It's hard to take care of long hair out here."_

 

Amelia closed her eyes and clenched her jaw for a moment before answering. " _My hair isn't that long."_

 

_“Long enough.”_

 

Amelia stat there staring into the middle distance for a while.

 

Yondu offered her his plate.  She helped herself to one of the strips of grilled meat from it. 

 

“ _You get meat but the rest of the crew doesn’t?_ ” she asked.

 

“ _They decide how much of their take they want to spend on room and board.  Half goes to the ship.  That gets ‘um barracks bunks, and three basics.  Any other niceties they buy themselves.  They can pay extra to get their own room or better grub.  Officers get meat meals and either private or semi private rooms, depending on rank.”_

 

 _“And the Captain gets a … comfort woman?_ ”

 

“ _No.  You’re cargo.  I’m just … preventing excessive damage before delivery.  Basic meals with the crew.  If you was a man, I might just leave you in one of the cargo cages but…_ ”  He sighed.  “ _I’ve got some good men on my crew.  But some of these boys are too stupid to live and some are just plain nasty bastards.”_

 

_“So why keep them?”_

 

_“I believe the saying is: Cannon Fodder.”_

 

Amelia raked her hands through her hair.   It hung just past her shoulders. The cute layers she had cut in back home where getting ragged, but she wanted a trim not a shave.  “ _How short?_ ”

 

“ _Pete can look after his._ ”

 

Amelia winced.

 

“ _Or maybe a bit longer._ ”  Yondu conceded.

 

“ _Back home, men like long hair on a woman.”_

 

“ _Back home, you only have to worry about lice.”_ Yondu hesitated.  “ _I trust Winch.  I would like him to keep an eye on you.  He won’t do that if you look, smell and sound unpleasant to him_.”

 

Amelia nodded.  “ _Fine.  Cut it.  Whatever._ ”  It will grow back, she told herself.  It’s only hair.

 

Yondu called Peter and told him to bring his shampoo and scissors.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate coming up with alien sounding names. And so in a moment of rebellion: Dave the Sasquatch. Go ahead and assume he takes his vacations in the pacific north west if you like.


	10. Eavesdropping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bold is because I don't speak Russian.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> (See what I did there?)

Yondu watched the girl cut her hair while staring at her reflection in the black void of space. She had started out with the scissors, but had talked Yondu into letting her use a straight razor at the end.  The results where choppy and uneven, but in a way that she seemed happy with. It was a bit longer in the front than in the back, despite Pete arguing for the reverse.

 

Yondu wasn’t sure what a ‘mullet’ was, but the girl was very definite that she wasn’t getting one.

 

Peter was just excited that someone knew what he was talking about for once.

 

“ _So, if I’m cargo, where are you transporting me to?_ ”

 

The question caught Yondu off guard, but Pete was immediately interested too.

 

“ _You an astrologer that anything I say would mean anything?”_

 

_“I think you mean astronomer, but no.  I’m not. I was just hoping to get a sense of what to expect.”_

 

“You said she was on board for a year.” Peter said.  “Is that true or are you dropping her off at our next stop?”

 

“ _I find it very frustrating when you switch languages so that you can talk about me without me know what you are saying.”_

 

Yondu snorted, “ _Then learn faster._ ”

 

Amelia went to work on that. It didn't turn out the way Yondu expected. Peter spoke common. He had to learn so that he had a base language for the translator implant to work off of. So did Andrei, but Amelia had little contact with him. So did Yondu, although in his case it was because no one was going to spend money on a translator implant on a disposable slave in the Kree army. 

 

The rest of the crew spoke a mish mash of random languages and the translators just took care of it. This made it hard for someone to learn by listening to the crew speak. 

 

It also made Yondu spit out his beer when she asked him to "please pass the salt' and each word was in a different language. 

 

After that he put out a call for crew who actually spoke Common, filtered to remove the jack asses from the list and assigned the remaining people to sit at her table. 

 

It turned out she got along fairly well with Andrei, and housekeeping was one of the few jobs she could do on the ship. Plus he was a better teacher than Peter, and they could still have random philosophical discussions in Russian as they were doing the laundry. They got used to no one understanding what they were saying. 

 

Which is how he ended up overhearing the following conversation:

 

 **"Look,"** Amelia said, **"Fight and flight are easy to understand. They are easy to spot. People get those options. But they are really only options if there is any hope in hell of them working. If the victim is significantly smaller than the attacker, women, children, a small man, or a man facing a group of attackers, fight or flight may not be a viable option. That's when freeze or fawn come in. But that's harder to understand. The person just froze and didn't fight. Didn't want to make it worse. People don’t understand that sometimes the only option is to just take the beating or rape and survive.**

 

**That's a horrible position to be in. Then it gets worse because everyone, including the victim invalidates that response. You should have fought back. Maybe you wanted to be raped. It's your fault.**

 

**And as messed up as that is, fawn response is even worse. We see that mostly in long term relationships with no possibility at escaping. Children of abusive parents or people with abusive spouses. They can't get away so they alter their behaviour to please their abuser. Try to keep them happy, try to make the violence stop. When you care about someone and want them to be happy, that's love.  But when you are scared of someone and need to make them happy, that's very different. It still looks the same from the outside, though.**

 

**People really don't understand that. They say things like 'But she was always smiling, she made him breakfast every morning. She was the perfect wife. I just can't believe he was hitting her!'  Or 'You have the most well behaved children!'**

 

**Well, of course they are well behaved. They have learned to be afraid. Then the regular developmental stages get perverted and instead of just trying to become self sufficient, the kid ends up lashing out or seeking negative attention because it's the only attention they understand. Abused kids who seek out abusive partners because that's what they understand."**

 

Andrei nodded, **"Or they hit their own wife and kids because that is how they understand respect.**

 

**"Yeah, that's why victims of pedophiles so often become pedophiles. It can become how they understand sex.”**

 

 **“Back home, we always said it was a western problem,”** Andrei said.  “ **Or that's the kind of thing you expect to see in places with marriage by abduction or that treats children as disposable. But it happens everywhere and just as much in 1st world countries.”**

 

Yondu just ignored them. He was sitting quietly around the corner from where they were working.  Won't even know he was there if he didn't say nothing.  They finished up and left.  Suddenly he had a lot to think about. 

 

Growing up a Kree slave, Yondu had first hand knowledge of freeze or fawn response.  He just hadn't been aware that it was a thing. And a sadly normal thing at that. He didn't want the introspection that came with that information. He didn't want to think about if that was why he was always threatening to eat Quill. He didn't want to stop to consider that it was really a death threat with the added horror of promising to desecrate the body afterwards. 

 

It was a joke, right?  Kid knew it was a joke. Didn't he?

 

Except it wasn't.  

 

He couldn't go soft of the boy. His crew wouldn't've put up with that. Boy had to grow up tough to survive. Yondu was doing the boy a favour.

 

Except he knew the fear of being small and squishy and have no where to hide. No safety in the world. 

 

He had never beaten the boy. Did giving him a cuff round the ear, count?  He NEVER fiddled with Pete.  And he had spaced anyone who tried anything on the kid. 

 

Which meant that he hadn't actually been completely successful at keeping the kid safe.  Close enough, though, right?

 

Fuck. He was too old to be worried about this crap. He needed to be grooming the boy to take over and the kid wasn't helping.   Kraglin was a good first mate, but he wasn't creative enough to be Captain.  He didn't understand the politics involved. 

 

God damn it! If the girl had tried to explain all that shit to him, he would have just ignored it.  But listening to her and Andrei talk as though it were just a fact of life that they both found frustrating made it somehow harder to just blow off.

 

She had been on the ship a couple of weeks and her Common was much improved, but she was still sleeping in his bed.  He had gotten used to having her, all warm and soft, next to him.  Did she actually want to be there or was that one of those fawn responses?  Fuck!  Why did he even care?  She wasn’t here for him!  She was supposed to be here as leverage to use again Quill.  He and the boys were two days out from a whore house on Jahoo where they were going to be spending a week, and gods knew those women weren’t in it for the lovey dove bull crap.

 

What that fuck was wrong with him?  He didn’t need that!  He didn’t want that emotional shit!  He didn’t care what the fuck she thought.

 

This was business.  She’s the means to an end.  That’s all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aiming for character development. Not going to be able to get Yondu to go for therapy.
> 
> Comments please.


	11. Arrangements

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sort of fix it fic. Ish. It could lead to a better ending.

Yondu watched the girl get undressed.  It had been a couple of weeks but the novelty hadn’t worn off.  That little jiggle she did as she pulled down her jeans was a thing of beauty.  She always slept in her panties and t-shirt and then would put on new ones after her shower in the morning.  He had taken to walking her to the showers himself.  It helped keep the crew’s eyes front.  She used his soap now and Winch didn’t comment.

 

Her tits were still smaller than he liked, but they weren’t bad.  It wasn't like he was playing with them anyway.

 

She crawled into his bed and took up position as the little spoon.  He didn’t cuddle her yet.

 

“You wanna be here?”  He hesitated.  Her common was getting better but maybe he should-

 

“Yes.”

 

“ _In my bed, I mean._ ”

 

“Yes.  You make me safe.”

 

“ _That’s the only reason you wanna be here?_ ” 

 

Her breathe caught. “ _What are you asking me, Yondu?_ ”

 

“You and Andrei seem to get on. You rather be lying next to him?”

 

The was a pause.  He couldn’t be sure if she was translating what he said or hedging her reply.

 

“Andrei not … can not make me safe.”

 

“I’ll keep you safe if you are in my bed or not.”

 

He waited. After a moment she wiggled around to face him.

 

“You want …me… sleep Andrei?” She looked nervous about that.

 

“I want you to sleep where you want to sleep.”

 

She was watching his face trying to figure out the right answer, he thought.  “I’m going away for a week.  You can’t come with me.  I’m gonna ask Winch to look after you, he won’t be coming with me.  You won't be sleeping with him.

 

Amelia nodded. “ _You want me to sleep on the floor so you can see that I won’t be a problem for Winch._ ”

 

Yondu hesitated.  “I don't want you in my bed when I get back.”

 

She tensed at that. After a moment she nodded.  “ _Thank you for taking care of me for as long as you have.”_ With that, she crawled out of his bed, pulled the extra blanket out of it’s cubby and wrapped in it.  Then she wedged herself in a corner and curled into a ball.

 

Done.  She was out of his bed.  She could get on with bonding with Peter. That was what he wanted, right?  So what if the bed felt empty and he kept waking up to listen if she was crying.

 

She didn’t.  It was fine.  Of course in the morning, he realized that may have been because she didn't actually sleep.  She looked exhausted.  She went through the motions of her shower with a numb expression on her face.  He handed her over to Andrei at breakfast, who looked a little alarmed at the sight of her.  Time to find Winch.

 

“You planning to disembark at Jadoon?” Yondu demanded.

 

Winch looked up from his breakfast.  “They have nothing to offer me.”

 

“Think you can keep the girl safe while I’m not on board.”

 

Yondu was expecting a yes, but instead Winch looked thoughtful.  “That depends on who else stays behind.  It may be worth noting that Mirena will have a full medical team on board and this would be an opportunity to get it’s vaccinations and quarantine period out of the way before we try to dock somewhere else.”

 

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

 

Half way through the morning, Andrei turned up on the bridge, with the girl.  Her arm was all taped up.

 

“Captain, I am here to report that Hix is no longer part of the crew.  My team has cleaned up the mess and your girl has done a fine job of sewing everyone up who needed it.”

 

Yondu leaned back in his chair.  “What happened?”

 

“He did not respect the two meter perimeter you ordered.”

 

“I see.  How close did he get?”

 

“Inside her clothing.”

 

Yondu looked over.  The girl was standing there trembling slightly, silently looking at the floor.

 

“Good job takin’ care of that for me.  Nice thing about deaths in housekeeping, I never has to worry about the clean up.” He switched to English and asked, without looking at the girl,  “ _How many stitches?”_

 

It was Andrei who answered, his accent thick and awkward. “ _Only ten for her, but another hundred and thirteen between everyone else.  Bastard pulled a knife on us when we were peeling him off of her._ ”

 

Yondu nodded.  “Sounds like we need to have a staff meeting.”

 

At lunch, Yondu opened the intercom system.  After waiting of the inevitable feed back noise to sort out, he made an announcement:

 

“The way I see it, there are three types of people on this crew.  Those who know I have a plan and trust me to get on with it.  Those too stupid to understand about plans, but that’s OK, ‘cuz if yous still here, it ‘cuz you can follow orders good enough.  Then there are those of you that don’t give a shit about my plan, ‘cuz you got your own plan.

"It’s that last group I’m talking to, today. 

"I have spent the last ten years putting together a deal.  A plan.  I have another year or two ’til it plays out.  That plan involves our newest addition and does not involve her getting dead so that you can get your rocks off.

"I am giving you an out.  You want off this boat, talk to me, I will pay you out for the last score and leave you on Jadoon to make your own way.  No hard feelings.  It just didn’t work out.

"But if you get back on this ship when we leave. You better be prepared to toe the line ‘cuz I will have no more patience for people what gets in my way.”

 

That afternoon he had about twenty boys tell him they wouldn't be back.  He hoped to get a few more the day after.  As it stands, there were about sixty or so that hadn’t offered to leave that he was expecting to need to make dead.

 

“Kraglin!  Officers’ meetin’!  Now!”

 

Once the man had joined Yondu in his stateroom, Yondu rummaged through his cubbies and came up with a reasonably good smokey tasting distilled beverage.  He poured Kraglin a couple of fingers worth and considered his words carefully.

 

“Kraglin, you’re a good first mate.  Best I ever had, point of fact.  You want to be Captain someday?”

 

Kraglin choked on his drink, “If this is about what you said earlier, I ain’t got-“

 

“It ain’t.  Just straight up question.  Iffen I retire or whatever, would you want to take over the boat?”

 

“This boat?  Fuck, no! Maybe I could boss a smaller operation, but the Eclector’s got a four hundred man crew.  I couldn’t run that!”

 

“So, who on board do you think could?” 

 

“Wait! Captain, is your twelve year plan to retire and take up Terran fucking as a full time gig?”

 

“What?!  No!  Pay attention boy!  Who do you think could take over when I’m done?”

 

Kraglin thought about this for a moment.  “Ain’t no one boss.”

 

“Yeah.  That’s what I’m worried about.  I’m thinking there needs to be someone.”

 

“Her?  You said she was just to keep Quill’s dick in line so he could concentrate.”

 

“Not her.”

 

Kraglin tried to think.  “Quill?!  Fuck boss!  That boy-“

 

“Ain’t ready yet, I know.”  Yondu interrupted.  “But he’s smart enough to keep hisself alive all these years with the crew gunnin’ for him.”

 

“And he did plan that bank job last year.”  Kraglin added, thoughtfully.  “Yeah…  I can kinda see it.  Boy ain’t ready yet.  He can’t think…political like.”

 

“Nope.  We’s gonna have to learn him that.”

 

“And you think the girl’s gonna help with that?”

 

“Yup.  Give him something to take care of.  Teach him to think about how to keep som’um else happy for a while.”

 

“Shit Captain.  Wouldn’t it have been easier to get the kid a dog?”

 

“Crew won’t be after killing a dog.”  Yondu hesitated.  “Mostly.”

 

“So, why not just giver to him?”

 

“He don’t wanner yet.”  Yondu gave Kraglin a long look. Then he finished his drink.  “You younger than me.  In a few years, if I get out of the life, Quill’s gonna need your help getting hisself set up up.  Are you OK with that?  It’s my plan, but I’m gonna need your help.”

 

Kraglin considered his drink for a moment.  “I can’t promise that Captain.  You walk out today, I’ll space that boy myself.  But I can see what your aiming for and if you need my help to get it.  You have it.  This don’t work out, though, I won’t be able to prop Quill up if you leave.”

 

Yondu nodded.

 

Kraglin started to speak, then stopped. When he started again, it was in a comedically off hand kinda way.  “There’s a rumour that the girl is the one who killed Hix.  He got ‘er alone in a  corner and put his hand up her shirt.  She got his knife and cut his hand clean off, then watched him bleed out.  They say the stitches everyone needed was ‘cuz she didn’t want to give the knife up once she had it.”

 

“That so?”

 

“Yeah.  Thought you should know that.”

 

Yondu nodded.  That was a rumour worth knowing about.

 

\----

 

When Yondu went to find Winch to get the girl back, he didn’t have her.  Yondu felt a brief stab of panic before Winch explained that the girl had gone off with Quill.  Yondu didn’t care to examine too closely how that made him feel.

 

Tracking down Quill was harder than he expected.  It shouldn’t have been.  The boy was on his ship with music blasting.  The funny thing was Yondu didn’t recognize the song.

 

“What’s all the racket?”  He demanded.

 

“The batteries in Amelia’s music player died, so I’m fixing it for her.  She’s got, like five hundred songs on here!”

 

Yondu ignored that.  “Where is she?”

 

Peter pointed to the couch.  “She’s sleeping.  Had a hard day.”

 

Yondu had no idea how the girl could sleep through this noise, but he didn’t say anything.  “How’s the Common lessons going?”

 

Peter groaned, “C’mon, Yondu.  We both know Andrei’s a better teacher than me.  She doing good with him and I don’t think she likes me much.”

 

“Andrei ain’t trying to earn an M-class.  She’s got the basics now.  Just talk to her about stuff.  Gods know you are always going on about Terra.  Swap stories or som’ing.”  Yondu hesitated, then went for the manipulative approach.  “Look, boy, you know how scary we were when you were new and helpless.  Now she is new and helpless.  Help make that a little easier for her.”

 

“From what I hear she isn’t totally helpless.”

 

“You hear that from her?”

 

“No.”

 

“Then how do you know it ain’t just Andrei blowing smoke to keep the boys off her?  He talks about propaganda all the time.”

 

Peter thought about that. "I dunno."

 

"Girl's been sleeping in my bed for weeks. If she was the stabby sort, I woulda noticed by now."

 

Peter shrugged.  "You taking her to dinner?" 

 

Yondu considered this. "Nah.  Let her sleep. You can bring her down when she wakes up or you get hungry."

 

"Then I drop her off at your room after?"

 

"Unless you want her sleeping on the Milano."

 

Peter didn't reply to that. 

 

Yondu left them.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The long term plan is for Amelia to end up with Peter, but I'm kind of liking the Yondu/Amelia dynamic for now. If this is just pissing everyone off, I'll try to cut to the chase. 
> 
> Please vote in the comments. I have a couple of follow up chapters written where either she starts sleeping on the Milano or ends up back with Yondu a bit more. Which one goes up with depend on reader feed back and what seems like the best way to handle post Jahoon crew purge.
> 
> Some times I have a plan for mass casualty events but can't seem to write them in a believable way that the characters could live with.
> 
> For example: the scene in Buying Art where Drax went psycho all over Nova Corp and killed off a bunch of people and then Amelia had to deal with him being a wanted mass murderer again - it ended up on the cutting room floor with a four or five chapter major rewrite. So we will see how Yondu ends up dealing with his crew.


	12. Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How do you get someone to go for at least a little bit of therapy, with out actually sending them for therapy?

 

Yondu was drinking with the officers when Quill turned up. Amelia looked nervous when she saw what he was up to.  "Come here!  I want to see yur stitches!"

 

She carefully unwrapped her forearm and displayed a two inch cut that had been badly sewn shut. Only ten stitches where there should be 16 to 20. It was going to leave a nasty scar. 

 

"That yur best work?" Yondu asked. 

 

"No." said Andrei. "I did that one. It's her dominant arm. She did these."  The man pulled you his shirt to reveal a reasonably toned set of abs, for an older guy. There was a three inch slice closed with perfect, even, tiny stitches. 

 

Yondu was impressed. " _You said you weren't a doctor._ "

 

"I'm not.  **Andrei says he'll pay to get the scar removed when we get somewhere with medical**."

 

" **Least I could do. If you weren't better at sewing that I am, I would be paying for care of my scar. _"_**

 

Yondu gave her a long look.  "C'mon. I can't sew as well as you, but I'm a hell of a lot better than Andrei."

 

He led her to the abandoned infirmary and dug out the suture kit.  Looking around, it was clear that housekeeping had been here and someone had sorted out the drawers better than the crew ever did.

 

At Amelia's insistence, he didn't take the existing stitches out, but her gave her some freezing and added another nine between the ones that where there.   While he worked, he asked, "You the one what killed Hix?"

 

She sighed and looked away, her eyes going shiny. "No, Yondu."

 

He nodded.  "You wanna tell me what happened."

 

"No.  Please, _I don't want to talk about it._ ”  She blinked and tears ran down her face.

 

Yondu watched for a moment then he patted his lap.  “ _Put your feet up girl._ ”

 

Amelia gave him a look, but did as she was told.  Yondu untied and took off her Chucks and started massaging her feet.

 

“ _Ugh.  You are surprisingly good at that_.”

 

He grinned.  “ _I don’t get no complaints from the ladies._ ”  He worked in silence for a few moments that said, “ _Tell me what’s going on in that pretty little head that has you so worried looking._ ”

 

“ _I don’t understand why I’m here.”_

 

Yondu just waited.  Give people silence and most of the time they fill it up.

 

She sighed again.  _“You said you wanted me to teach Peter Russian, but you didn’t know I spoke Russian when you… bought me.  Peter doesn’t want to learn and you could have just gotten Andrei to do that if you really wanted._

 

_“A ten year wait looking for the right person sounds like something big.  Like trying to find a match for organ harvesting big.  Most of the crew think I’m just here because you were too horny to wait until you get to the brothel tomorrow.  If that’s true, I’ve been failing miserably at my job.  But that would explain why you finally got sick of sleeping next to me and sent me to sleep in the corner last night._

 

_“And that’s kind of scary, because if I’m here as a sexy toy, but not your sex toy…. there are a lot of people very scary … people on this ship and I don’t want to have sex with any of them let alone all of them._

 

 _“That’s not going to happen.”_ Yondu said firmly _._

 

_“OK.  So what the hell was that bit out ‘shaking hands with yourself’ thing you said when I first got here?  — It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that was a masturbation reference, by the way.— But really?  Is that a thre- a warning that if I masturbate, I’m fair game for sexual predation?  Is it that you want to watch and that’s why you specified it had to be in your room?  I don’t understand what you want me to do.”_

 

That last sentence was spoken with such despair that his heart clenched.

 

Yondu huffed and gave her a hard look. _“I am trusting you with a secret here, girl.  You don’t know who rare that is from me, yet.  But it is. Understand?”_

 

He waited for her to nod before continuing. _“I spent the first 20 or so years of my life as a slave to the Kree.  You’ve seen my back, my face, you can guess what that was like.  The first set of owners, when I was young and cute, kept me as a pet who could also do chores and run errands.  That weren’t too bad ’til the first time they caught me with my hand in my pants.  Then they beat me ’til I couldn’t stand and sold me to the army.”_

 

He realized he was holding her feet tighter than he should be.  He forced himself to relax and cringed as bruises started to form on the tops of her feet.  “ _Sorry_.”

 

She just shook her head.

 

“ _Anyway, point is, I became a Ravager when my old Captain stole me while raiding a transport ship.  That was like heaven, right there.  I had a room that I only had to share with three other guys, no one beat me and everyone kept their hands to themselves, unless you asked ‘em not to._

 

_“Couple of days in and I get to wanting someone to.  Captain takes me a aside and says to me, same as I’m saying to you.  Sex is power.  If you can’t take care of yourself, you are giving that power to someone else.  That is not in your best interest.  A partner is a nice thing to have, but you don't want to be dependant on someone else._

 

_“First few times I tried jerkin’ off, I couldn’t come without hurting myself.  Turned the water in the shower to painfully cold in order to actually shoot my load.  Or I had to get real violent and leave bruises or claw marks on myself.  A little bit of pain as a way to spice things up a bit, that’s one thing.  This wasn't that.  I was physically incapable of coming without it._

 

_“Captain Ogord takes me to a brothel and leaves me there for a month.  I’m thinking, shit, this is it.  I been sold again.  But the staff aren’t allowed to touch me. The owner starts talking to me about sex and power and how I’m free now.  It’s my body, I’m allowed to touch it.  Or not.  Helped me get my head on straight. By the time he’s back to pick me up again, well, I ain’t totally ok with my body, but I’m well on the road._

 

_“I ain’t never told that story to no one.  But that’s what I want for you.  It’s your body.  I know what those bastards did.  When you’re ready, take back control.  And if it don’t work out so well the first couple of times, don’t give up or start calling yourself broken or whatever fucking names your head is going to come up with.”_

 

Amelia nodded.  “ _Thank you for telling me._ ”

 

“ _Aw, hell!  I ain’t drunk enough for this!  We gotta go fix that.  Put your shoes back on._ ”

 

Amelia followed Yondu to the dining room, where he used his palm print to get into the kitchen.  Then used the other hand to get into he pantry.  There was a retina scan to get into the small fridge in the back.  Amelia flat out laughed when it turned out to be the beer fridge.

 

“ _What?  You think there would be any left if just anyone could get in here?_ ”

 

She laughed again.  It wasn’t a bad sound, Yondu decided.  He found a box and put three bottles in it.  Then he looked at her.  “ _You want one?_ ”

 

“ _I don’t know.  What’s it like?_ ”

 

“ _Tastes like piss, but it takes the edge off._ ”

 

“ _Not the best sales job I’ve ever come across._ ”

 

Yondu shrugged and took an extra bottle.  “ _I ain’t gonna lie to you.  Not about something stupid like this._ ”

 

When they got back to Yondu’s room, opened a bottle and and took a swig.  Then gave her a long look before opening another and handed it to her.  She took a sip and almost managed to avoid making a face.  Yondu laughed.  “ _You don’t want that, we’ll call Kraglin in here and share with him.”_

 

Amelia considered this.  Took another sip, gagged, then nodded, setting the bottle on the table.

 

Yondu hit the intercom button.  “Kraglin, there’s beer going wanting. Get your ass in here before I drink it all.”

 

“Yes, sir!” came the reply.

 

Once the intercom disconnected, Yondu turned to Amelia and said. “ _I don’t want you telling that story to Kraglin, understand?_ ”

 

She nodded.

 

“ _First time I fucked someone ‘cuz I wanted to, when it was som’un who wanted me back, it felt like magic.  Like that soul mate crap people go on about.”_ Yondu took another drink.  Kraglin came in and took one of the bottles and pulled up a chair.

 

“ _I thought, this is it.  I found happily ever after. Like some stupid ass fairy tale.  Took me a while to understand that sometimes sex is just for fun.  Don’t have to mean nothing.  Guy I was banging, he didn’t feel the same way.  It ain’t using someone if you are both getting off, it can just be… helping out a friend and that’s ok.”_ Yondu took another swig. _“I made you think.  What you thinking about now?”_

 

“ _I’m impressed that space people have a much more civilized view of homosexuality, to be honest.”_

 

Yondu choked, Kraglin started to laugh.  He laughed until tears ran down his face.

 

Once Yondu got control of his face, he glared at Kraglin.  _“Stop that!  Not her fault.  Terrans got funny ways about sex.”_ He turned to Amelia who was looking scared. He considered her for a while before continuing.  ” _You seen … the anatomy of my species.  Said we weren’t.. what was the word… reproductively compatible.  Where exactly do you think I could stick my dick into you and get off?”_

 

Amelia blushed.

 

_“Right.  So, if we are talking assholes here, why doesn’t it matter if there is a cunt or balls in front of them? Homo, hetero, bi - that’s just your culture having hang ups because your reproductive cycle is so short and it’s hard to not just be knocked up all the time.”_

_“I can’t believe I’m asking this, but… You have a twelve inch kangaroo penis.  Don’t you need to find… a member of your own species?”_

 

Both Yondu and Kraglin went very quiet at that.  The silence went on long enough that Amelia felt, impossibly, even more uncomfortable.

 

“ _Ain’t that many Zatoan left.  Between the Kree and the Badoon, we is almost extinct.”_

 

Amelia closed her eyes.  _“I am so sorry.”_

 

“ _Why?  You didn’t kill ‘em._ ”

 

“ _Because being lonely is universal and that is …  a whole lot of alone._ ”

 

They sat in silence, Yondu and Kraglin drinking their beer.  Amelia started to fidget, then got out her knitting.

 

Kraglin was the one who asked, “ _How squicked out are you about the idea of different species knockin’ boots?”_

 

Amelia considered this.  “ _If everyone is consenting, it isn’t really any of my business._ ”

 

Both Yondu and Kraglin noticeably relaxed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's how.


	13. Decisions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly set up for future adventures. Amelia staying on the ship vs going to the planet was decided by informal vote in the comments of Chapter 11 about the Yondu or Peter question.

 

Amelia woke up sandwiched between Yondu and Kraglin and it took her a moment to remember how she had gotten there. 

 

Yondu and Kraglin had finished the beer. Then Yondu poured them each a glass of the hard stuff. Amelia had hidden the bottle when part way through the glass both of their accents had deteriorated to the point where she could no longer understand them. She had gotten Yondu out of his long coat, his short coat, his vest and boots before giving up and just tucking him in. He had pulled her in next to him and a sleepy but fully dressed Kraglin had tried to climb in with them. She remembered trying to get him to take his boots off but she was exhausted and Yondu was warm and clingy and ... she had been mugged by the sleep demons. 

 

Now she was way too sweaty and really had to pee. 

 

" _Let go!  I have to pee!"_

 

Kraglin got up and went to the head, leaving Amelia to wiggle out of Yondu's grasp and go stand in line.  After she peed and washed her hands, she took a moment to brush her teeth while she was in there. She felt a bit badly about that when she found Yondu rocking on his heels just outside the door,

 

" _Oops_!"  She hurried out of his way and laughed at the huge sigh of relief that was clearly audible when he failed to close the door tightly. 

 

She turned around to find Kraglin watching her.  “What?”

 

He started to say something then shook his head.  “Crew’s going to want to settle up for Hix before we disembark.”

 

“I don’t understand.” Amelia replied but he wasn’t talking to her.

 

“I know, but the 50 hour cooling off period is there for a reason.” Yondu tossed Amelia her pills and watched her take one. “ _You OK if Kraglin takes you to shower today?  I gotta get stuff ready for the landing parties._ ”

 

She was still facing Yondu when she asked. “ _Umm… Is he going to keep staring at my ass the whole time?  Because that’s creepy enough while I have clothes on._ ”

 

Over her shoulder, Yondu saw Kraglin wrench his gaze upwards and smirk.  Yondu frowned.  “Don’t piss off the medic, Kraglin.  She’s been to the sick bay, she knows where the burdizzo is now.” 

 

Amelia turned to look over her shoulder, when she saw Kraglin blushing, she frowned.  Turning back to Yondu, she asked.  “ _What did you say?  I missed that._ ”

 

“ _Don’t piss off the medic.”_

 

_“I’m not your medic.”_

 

_“You wanna be?”_

 

_“I don’t speak the language and I’m not familiar with the anatomy of of almost anyone on the ship.”_

 

_“You want the job, we can work on that.  It’s better than housekeeping.”_

 

_“Can I think about it?  Housekeeping has me part of a team.  There doesn’t seem to be anyone working out of the sick bay.”_

 

Amelia had her shower, still taking one in the corner.  She was surprised when Kraglin stripped down and took the one next to her.

 

“ _Now who’s starin’?_ ” he drawled.

 

Amelia laughed, but turned to face the wall.

 

She was just finishing up the not-oatmeal when Andrei came over to collect her for housekeeping duties.  Kraglin balked at that.

 

“You did a shit job of keeping her safe yesterday.”

 

“She lived and now a message has been sent.  There is more work to shutting down the ship for docking.  I need the help.  She is a good worker.”

 

Kraglin frowned, unconvinced.

 

“ **I will not let her out of my sight.** ”

 

“ **Fine.** ” Kraglin turned to Amelia.  “ **Don’t wander off. Today is … complicated and dangerous.** ”

 

Housekeeping did have a lot of work. Enough of the crew had given notice that there were whole rooms empty. They needed a floor to ceiling clean out (and, in Amelia's opinion, disinfecting with a flame thrower) before they would be ready for reassignment.  

 

They stopped for a break after a couple of hours and Andrei broke out the snacks. Amelia was surprised to find Peter working with housekeeping today. 

 

_"I'm saving up to buy out my ship." He explained. "These outposts are expensive.  If I spend the week cleaning instead the bonus pay is pretty good."_

 

_"This is an all week thing?"_

 

 _"Yeah. Everyone is supposed to lock all their stuff in one of these boxes."_ He kicked one of the metal crates that looked big enough to hide a body. " _It's biometrickly sealed. Anything that isn’t packed can be claimed by housekeeping and we divide up the loot after the crew gets a chance to buy it back.  People are supposed to be careful, but there is always a pretty good haul."_

 

_"Huh."_

 

 _"Yondu will probably hold the auction to coincide with the settling up for Hix."_ Andrei offered. " _You don't speak enough Common and aren't familiar with our customs. You should pick an advocate to speak for your interests."_

 

 _"Like a lawyer?"_ Amelia asked.

_"Somewhat."_ Andrei replied.

 

_"Would you do it?"_

 

_"I am involved. I have a conflict of interest."_

 

_"I could ask Winch."_

 

_"You could, be he doesn't believe you are a person and would not argue hard on your behalf."_

 

 _"I'll do it."_ offered Quill.

 

Andrei nodded, " _He would be a good choice."_

 

 _"I don't understand what you are talking about._ "

 

" _In that case definitely pick Quill. He can bargain hard."_

 

Amelia nodded uncertainly. 

 

After that break was over and they were back to cleaning. 

 

By lunch, most of the crew was gone and the dining room felt comparatively deserted.  The food was, well, not good but better than Amelia had eaten since... leaving Earth.  The cleaning crew had a leisurely lunch, entertaining themselves with teaching Amelia to curse. Usually, she would spend the afternoon following Winch around, but today Andrei just kept her on his crew. 

 

The afternoon was more of the same. Everyone was exhausted by halfway through the after another couple of hours. Amelia was surprised when they finished a room and Andrei locked the door. Everyone curled up on the floor. 

 

She gave him a puzzled look. 

 

" _Nap time!"_ Peter explained. 

 

" _You're joking."_

 

He wasn't. 

 

Tam snored. Amelia wouldn't have expected that.  She also wasn't expecting to sleep, but she woke to Andrei shaking her shoulder. 

 

" _Captain wants to see you."_

 

Amelia had a bit of a hike as Kraglin led her through the ship. It took her a moment to work up the nerve but finally she asked, " _Kraglin, housekeeping was talking about setting up for Hix. What does that mean?"_

 

_"Aw. You don't need to worry about that. Boss is real fair.”_

 

Amelia was about to ask for additional explanation when Yondu popped out of a doorway.

 

_“There you are!  Decision time.  I don’t think leaving you here with Winch is the best idea.  Since Peter is staying to clean, you could stay and work too.  I’ll even pay you your share.  But Jadoon has a medical facility and if you want, you could get quarantine over with.”_

 

_“What do you mean, quarantine?”_

 

_“They give you meds to fix up you immune system so you don’t catch anything.  You spend about a week bein’ really sick.  You won’t die, but you might wish you could.  Afterwards you are safe against a lot of nasty things that could kill you if you catch ‘em with out a med team handy.”_

 

_‘Like vaccinations?”_

 

_“Not exactly.  You will need those too, but they are easier to get and you can’t have em at the same time.”_

 

Amelia considered this.  “ _How much does all that cost?”_

 

_“Don’t you worry about that.  I bought you, it’s my responsibility.”_

 

_“You bought me, isn't it your decision?”_

 

_“Don’t want you leave you sick and alone and not know what’s going on.  Your body, your call.”_

 

Amelia considered this and did the thing Yondu was starting to recognize, which was change the subject while she thought about it.

 

“ _Why can’t you leave me with Winch?_ ”

 

He smiled to himself.  He was impressed how, even through she changed the subject, she would be thinking about both things at once.  There weren’t many on his crew who would be able to do that.  “ _Your voice is painful for him.  He won’t leave you with housekeeping.  You would be silent and alone for eight days straight._ ”

 

“ _If I stay, I can practice Common with the housekeeping team.”_

 

_“Yes.”_

 

_“If I go, will I be able to bring the tablet and my knitting?”_

 

_“If you want.  You might not be up to working on ‘em though.”_

 

_“How sick are we talking?”_

 

Yondu hesitated.  Kraglin said, “ _At it’s worst, you’ll be drinking, and it’ll be coming out the other end the same temperature and approximate colour as it was going in._ ”

 

“ _Oh._ ” She considered for a moment, “ _What are the chances of me actually catching anything?_ ”

 

“ _The … staff on the station are all clean.  But the other clients might not be.  Don’t know if the boys will bring home souvenirs until they do._ ”

 

“ _So… either know I’m going to be sick for a few days and just do it, or risk uncertain death later?_ ”

 

“Yup.”

 

“ _I can handle being sick for a couple of days._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always comments are SO appreciated! Honestly, they make my day.
> 
>  
> 
> Wow! 780 hits. Send me a comment when we get to 800 and I'll try to post the next chapter early


	14. Almost Like Food Poisoning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still laying ground work. I've tried no to be too medically graphic, but basically think Travellers Diarrhea.

 

Things moved fast after that.  Kraglin got her socks in progress, a spare ball of yarn and the tablet Yondu had given her.  He didn’t bring her any clean clothes or her toothbrush.  When she asked, he just said she wouldn’t need them.  She ended up on a shuttle with Kraglin, Yondu and some random scary looking guys.

 

Yondu ignored her are soon as the guys were watching.  He concentrated on them instead of her.  Kraglin helped her buckle in.  “Amelia, meet Horuz, Czar, Tullk and Oblo.”

 

She waved uncertainly.

 

Czar asked, “You taking good care of the Captain for us?”

 

“Um…yes?”

 

Horuz snickered.

 

The shuttle lurched and Amelia gasped.  Her whole body went ridged.  Both hands gripped the sides of her seat.  She held on white knuckled. Head bowed, eyes squeezed shut.  She tried to breathe slowly and evenly through her nose.

 

There was another lurch.  People were talking, she just ignored them and tried to stay calm.  Think about something, anything else.

 

Someone touched her hand. Her eyes snapped open as she snatched it away.  The guy with the carved up face who looked like a stock character for every movie who wanted it to be be know that this guy was bad ass was sitting way too close looking at her.

 

“You are safe.  Captain is the best pilot.  You are OK.  Just breathe.”

 

Kraglin said, “Tullk, she don't understand Common so good and she don’t like people touching-“

 

Tullk didn’t take his eyes off the girl. He kept his tone quiet and serene.  “She understands more than you think.  It’s OK.  She’s OK.  Just keep breathing, Amelia.”

 

“Your eyes are shiny.”

 

He grinned.  “All the better to see you with, my dear.”

 

She gasped then started to laugh.

 

“That’s better.  You’ll be fine.”

 

——

 

When they got off the shuttle, the crew members scattered.  Yondu waved Kraglin off and a richly dressed older woman greeted him warmly.

 

“Yondu Udonta!  A pleasure as always!”

 

Yondu snorted.

 

“Hello Mirena.  How’s tricks?”

 

“All the better for your visit!  What have you brought me?”

 

“Not for you.  I just need some medical for her.”

 

A young man wearing nothing but a g-string and a lot of body glitter handed her a tablet. 

 

Mirena took it.  “With your permission, of course.”

 

Yondu nodded.  

 

The woman took Amelia’s picture and hissed.  “Yes.  I see exactly why you brought her to me.”

 

“What do you see?”

 

She offered the tablet to Yondu.  “Some bastard has stuffed her uterus with copper wire.  Likely in a primitive attempt at contraception.”

 

“Yur joking!”

 

“I do not find that funny, Yondu.  We can provide you with a much better option.”

 

“OK.  She also needs an immune system upgrade.”

 

“Hmm… did you warn her about that?”

 

“Yeah.  That was a nasty surprise when I wasn’t expecting it.”

 

Mirena hummed thoughtfully.  “Is she for sale?”

 

“No.”  There was no room for negotiation in Yondu’s tone.  Amelia found herself relaxing a little.

 

“She doesn’t have a translator implant.  Which language does she speak?”

 

“English and Russian.  Maybe a little something else I don’t recognize.”

 

“Hmm.  I don’t tend to stock Terrans.  They do not last long, too easy to break.”

 

“I need her alive.  If you can’t do this, then say and I’ll take her back to the ship with no hard feelings.”

 

“My team can do this.  What kind of birth control would you like?”

 

“None, I can’t knock her up.”

 

“Kraglin can and I know how you boys like to share.”

 

“She ain’t for me.  I have plans for her.”

 

“Hmm.  Still… accidents happen.  From what I see, accidents have already happened.”

 

“You can tell that?”

 

“She has anti-Kree antibodies in her blood, so either there was a transfer of bodily fluids, or There Was A Transfer Of Bodily Fluids.”

 

“Kree, huh?”

 

“Yes.  Does that change your plans?”

 

“No.”

 

Mirena led them to a room and had Yondu get Amelia to undress and put on a cross between a hospital gown and an over sized t-shirt.  It had snaps all the way around the edge so that it could be adjusted to fit almost anyone, but could still be easily removed if necessary.

 

Yondu hesitated.  He had no idea how to tell her about the wire.  As if those bastards hadn’t done enough.

 

“ _Amelia, hon.” He sighed.  “Ain’t no easy way to tell you this, but you got some….. someone put…”_ He look a deep breath. _“I am so, so sorry baby girl, but someone put copper wire inside you and we need to get it out.”_

 

She looked shocked for a moment, but her expression quickly morphed into confusion.  “ _Wait… are you talking about my paraguard?  My birth control?”_

 

Now it was Yondu’s turn to look surprised.  “ _You know about that?”_

 

 _“Yeah!  I fast talked the Russian doctor into putting it in for me.  I already had one completely impossible alien pregnancy, I wasn’t going to try for a second.  Paraguard is really reliable, it lasts longer than anything else.  I don’t have to put up with the problems I get from hormonal birth control and I can totally deal with the heavier periods.”_ Suddenly, her ears caught up to her.  “Why do you have to take it out?”

 

“We have much better methods, my dear.” Mirena offered.

 

“I’ll bet.”

 

 _“_ Why don’t we get you through the next couple of days and we can discuss it before you leave? _”_

 

“ _So how does this work?_ ”

 

Yondu answered, _“They are going to give you stuff to drink.  After a couple of hours, you will start to feel sick.  A few days of that and you will get better. I’ll come and get you and we’ll leave.  If you need anything, they will try to help, but there isn't anyone who speaks English, so it may take a little while for them to get me.”_

 

 _“OK._ ”

 

—-

 

It was a bit like food poisoning.

 

Honestly, Kraglin had either over sold the idea so it would be better than she was expecting or he had the man-flu version.

 

Amelia wasn’t totally comfortable but she had a whole week with nothing to do and full access to the medical bay’s health care programs.  That part was interesting enough to completely distract her from whatever else was going on,

 

Yondu came to check on her the second day.  She was sitting on the floor, knitting and learning about how Monstrous have a three gender reproductive system.  “ _Oh my god, Yondu!  Did you know?  This is like the coolest thing!  How rude would it be to ask Winch which he is?_ ”

 

“Don’t do that.”

 

Amelia actually stopped what she was doing for a moment to look at him.  “So…. how are the ladies?”

 

Yondu’s skin darkened and she realized he was blushing.

 

She grinned, “I hear you get no complaints,” she teased.

 

“Yeah, well…  You need anything, girl?”

 

“Solid food would be nice.”

 

“Not for another couple of days.”

 

“OK.”

 

Yondu frowned.  “Are you really ok?”

 

“Yeah.  I mean not great, but OK.  I figured out what they are doing.  I think they are changing my _micro-biome_.  The bacteria and micro organisms that I’m carrying.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

Amelia frowned.  “That and I think they are giving me some sort of _anti-anxiety_ drug.”

 

The Attendant stepped forward, “What kind of drug?”

 

Amelia looked at the woman with silvery skin, “Something so I don’t worry.”

 

“Ah!  Yes.  But-” she held up a hand when Yondu frowned and started to interrupt, “- you will not become dependant on it and we will have you off of it before you need to leave.”

 

Yondu nodded and turned back to Amelia.  “Your common has gotten better.”

 

“Thank you.  I am learning about other species medical care.”

 

“We have been focusing on the species that you have on your crew.”  The Attendant offered.

 

“Good.”  Yondu watched her for a moment.  “You need me to stay?”

 

Amelia considered this, then shook her head.  “I’m fine.  Kind of gross, but fine.  I really appreciate the visit though.  It’s good to know you haven’t just forgotten about me.”

 

Yondu nodded.  “Good work, keep taking care of her.”  He slapped The Attendant on the back as he left.

 

The morning of day three, she was still calm, but she had pretty much reached the point Kraglin had warned her about.  She had also figured out that The Attendant was an android.  “This is why you call it Quarantine,” Amelie said, “because you are clearing out the bacteria I brought with me.”

 

“Yes.  I will also need to …  put new bacteria into you appendix.” The now familiar anatomical picture of a Terra was pulled up and the appendix highlighted to teach Amelia the word in Common.

 

Amelia frowned.  “That’s going to be harder.  How?”

 

Amelia watched an animation of tiny robots flushing an appendix.

 

“You will be more comfortable if you sleep through this part.”

 

Amelia nodded.

 

She woke up starving, with a nasty head ache.  The attendant was waiting with drink for her.  She felt better by the time she finished the drink.  “This is how you are drugging me.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“How much is all of this costing Yondu?”

 

“He specifically said we weren’t to worry you about that.”

 

“Huh.”

 

“Does it bother you that he is using our services while you are here?”

 

“What?  No!  It… It’s complicated.”  It wasn’t that complicated for Amelia.  He wasn’t having sex with her and she was OK with that.  So it would be completely unfair to expect him not to have sex with anyone else.  The only complicated part was that she couldn’t tell anyone they weren't having sex.  “When do you start …. _recolonizing_ … giving me new bacteria?”

 

“We have been doing that all along.”

 

“Can you teach me how to use a med scanner?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yondu is getting some action in the next chapter. As soon as I have a chance to research kangaroo mating.
> 
> I promise it will be tasteful. 
> 
> I have no idea how I would explain my browser history. 
> 
> Private browsing = on


	15. The Estate of Pilot Hix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Contains a non-erotic sex scene.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I suppose some one out there must have this kink, but I didn't try to write it that way. 
> 
> Also check the comments if you want to know what I learned about kangaroo reproduction. I'm putting it in the comments so you can skip it if you want.
> 
> I'm posting early because AO3 will be down at my usual posting time. Plus I'm away this weekend, so this may be the last update for a few days.

 

The woman Yondu was spooned up behind and into was faking an orgasm.  It was a reasonably good impression, but given that he could 100% feel that it wasn't actually happening, it was mostly just annoying.  “Stop that.”

 

The twitch she gave when he snapped at her felt good though.  He gave her belly another rub.  “If you need to cum again, I can use my fingers on you some more.  I only stopped because you seemed fair touched out.”

 

She seemed to consider this.  “I’m good.  Most men want the appreciation.”

 

“Most men don’t take forty fucking minutes to finish.”

 

“I really appreciate you going slow.  I just don’t feel like I’m doing anything here.”

 

He rubbed her belly again and shuddered. “You are.”

 

“How many orgasms do you get in one fuck?”

 

“Dunno.  Double digits at least.”

 

She shivered, he shuddered again.

 

“Huh.” was all she said.

 

\---

 

Amelia started on semi solid food on day four and was ready for regular food and her own clothes by day five. When they brought lunch on Day five, they also swapped out The Attendant's programming for an intensive language training one. 

 

By the time Yondu came to get her, her Common was better than some of his crew.  She was sitting there happily playing with a medi scanner.  She was wearing her own clothes and had two new pairs of socks. 

 

"Ready to go?" He asked. 

 

"Yup."

 

The Captain was always on the last shuttle off the ship and the first back on. Amelia was faced with the same crewmen as last time. 

 

The Big Bad Wolf asked, "Are you going to be alright?"

 

Amelia considered this, "I'm afraid of flying, if that's what you mean. I fly all the time for work but I am never not afraid."

 

"Anything we can do to help?"

 

There was a lurch as the shuttle uncoupled. Amelia tensed then asked, "What's your name again?  I'm sorry I don't remember."

 

"I'm Tullk."

 

"Pleased to meet you. I'm Amelia."

 

"Tam says you can sew."

 

"I... yeah. In an emergency."

 

One of the burlier guys laughed.  "That's the only kind of sewing we ever need. Tullk's what you get when there ain't a medic on board an you have to let the tailor see you up."

 

"There's a tailor on board?"

 

"I'm Horuz. No we don't have one anymore. If boss is looking to replace the crew you cost us, he might hire one for awhile."

 

"Ignore him.  A medic is worth sixty scheming pieces of shi- cannon fodder any day."  said the green guy with pointy ears. "I'm Czar."

 

"You lost sixty crew members because of me?"

 

Kraglin glared at the crew. "We would have had to clean house sooner or later anyway."

 

Amelia had tensed up and closed her eyes. Tullk said, "Hey!  Amelia!  Look at me!  What's your favourite food?  The thing you miss from home?"

 

"Fresh _raspberries_ right off the plant."

 

"Not _chocolate_? I heard Terrans like _chocolate_."

 

"I like good chocolate but there is a lots of chocolate flavoured crap out there.  My favourite author said bad chocolate was halfway between cheese and tile grout."

 

Tullk looked puzzled; Czar snorted in laughter. 

 

By this point they were back in open space and the last part of the ride was a lot easier.  Peter was waiting for her when they docked. " _C'mon. We should stay out of the way until the rest of the officers get back._ "

 

This turned out to involve a very nice snack in the dinning room. Peter explained that the food got better when there were fewer people to feed. They were shortly joined by the housekeeping team, who seemed pretty excited.

 

“Did you find some good stuff?” Amelia asked.

 

“Yeah, but mostly we want to settle up for Hix.”

 

“What does that mean?”

 

Unfortunately, Yondu turned up over the intercom summoning the department heads and the housekeeping to the bridge.

 

“ _Show time_.” said Peter.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

“Look.  I’ll take care of this.  Just stand still and don’t say anything.” Peter instructed.

 

Andrei nodded.

 

——

 

Yondu looked around the bridge.  It was crowded with the department heads for the pilots, the maintenance crew (Winch), the navigators, the gunners, the technicians, the cooks (Krss) and Andrei and the housekeepers all crowded in.

 

He looked at Peter, “What you doing here boy?”

 

“I have come to bargain for Amelia.”

 

“She is a slave.  She does not get to bargain.” pointed out Winch.

 

Yondu considered this.  It did make things more complicated.  “Ravagers don’t keep slaves.  She had been working on the housekeeping team for weeks.  She is a junior crew member.”

 

There was some grumbling about this.

 

“Alright, let’s get started.  We need to review the security footage.”

 

Amelia didn’t want to watch this part.  Hix had been like one of the four armed green Martians out of the John Carter movie, minus the tusks.  There she was sweeping the floor when he came up behind her and slammed her facing up against the wall.  His top hands held her shoulders against the wall while his bottom hands started to undo her pants.  They could all see when her face when from shock and confusion to fear.  Then they watched her scream, and Andrei try to pull Hix off of her.  Hix pulling a knife and slicing Andrei before Amelia grabbed the arm with the knife.  Hix clawing into her arm to try to get her to let go before passing the knife to another hand.  Then they watched the whole crew tackle him to the floor before Tam used one talon-like hand to rip out his throat.

 

After the video finished playing there was a moment of silence before Peter jumped in with, “Amelia deserved 70%.  Half because she was the one he attacked, 10% for being injured and 10% for sewing up the crew.  The other 30% should go 5% to each person who was injured and the last 10% divided between those who helped with clean up but were not involved in the attack.”

 

Tam jumped right in at that.  “I deserve at least 20% for being the one to kill him.”

 

Andrei countered that point with, “We already had him pinned, it was little risk or effort for you.  I deserve 15% for being the first to respond, Amelia should get 50% for being attacked and fighting and sewing and cleaning. 10% for each injured person and Tam and 5% to be divided for those who merely cleaned because that was their job anyway.”

 

The negotiation went on for some time.  In the end, a variation of Andrei’s proposal won with the rider that the injured people had to pay Amelia for her sewing and Yondu for the supplies, which put her share up to 57%.  Everyone agreed this was fair.  There was much shaking of hands and everyone wandered off.

 

Amelia turned to Peter.  “What just happened?”

 

He stared at her.  “We won.”

 

“Won what?  I don’t understand.”

 

Yondu stood up.  “Hix turned against his crew and was killed for it, so everything he owned was forfeit.  Quill just fast talked you into receiving 57% of his stuff.”

 

“Ok?  So… I get half a box full of junk?”

 

They both stared at her.  “ _His share of the take from the last job was three thousand units and he owned an M class ship.  Plus whatever other holdings he had._ ” Peter said.

 

“Oh.”

 

“ _You will have to decide if you want to sell the ship, or use the money to buy out the other share holders or what._ ” Yondu suggested.

 

Amelia frowned and thought carefully about how to say this in Common, “Why would I buy a space ship?  I don’t know how to fly.”

 

Peter grinned.  “Want me to teach you?”

 

——

 

Amelia ended up knitting in Kraglin’s room while Yondu … bossed people.  He yelled at people for the mess they had left.  There was the previously mentioned auction for people to buy their stuff back.  Kraglin had asked if she wanted to go.  She declined but said that she would go if he wanted to.

 

“Nah, I would just go to be a shit and bid up stuff I know people want back.”  He hesitated, “How are you feeling?”

 

“I’m ok.  _How much do you think I owe Yondu for paying for me and my health care?_ ”

 

“No.  Don’t you ask him that.  If he wants you to pay, he’d’a told you.”

 

“Kraglin?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“I forgot to say this the other day, but thanks for taking your boots off before coming to bed.”

 

Kraglin was a bit taken aback by that. “You’re welcome, Amelia.”  He watched her knit for a few minutes before asking.  “Were you OK with my bein’ there?”

 

“ _It was fine.  If you had been leering or groping, I wouldn't have been OK.  But it was just sleep.  Everyone was even basically fully dressed._ ”

 

“Huh.”

 

“Kind of like nap time with the housekeeping crew.”

 

Kraglin’s face froze.  “What?”

 

He could see her panic a little.  “What?”

 

“What did you say about sleeping with the housekeeping crew?”

 

“I didn’t say anything about sleeping with housekeeping.”

 

He frowned. “Amelia, this is important.  Is Andrei -“

 

“No!  Andrei isn’t anything!  _I thought I said nap time and I honestly meant just a nap.  It wasn’t a euphemism for anything.  We had a heavy lifting day and everyone just had a nap.  That’s all.”_

 

Kraglin visibly relaxed.

 

Amelia wondered about that a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yondu & Amelia reunion next chapter. Still not writing slash scenes for them. I think I have it figured out how that would go. But Amelia needs a little more recovery time, and Yondu needs to get out of the friend zone.
> 
> Which, to be fair, is where he positioned himself.
> 
> It would be nice to come back to an inbox full of (hopefully positive) comments, so share the love if you have it.


	16. The Gift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning! Angst ahead!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which we learn the writer can be talked into posting early through application of great comments from the readers.
> 
> Thank you all so much!

 

Amelia was sitting, quietly knitting with a worried expression on her face when Yondu got back to his quarters.  “Everything alright, hon?”

 

“If I’m a junior crew member, am I going to be assigned to the barracks?”

 

The twin expressions of horror on the faces of Yondu and Kraglin were not reassuring.

 

Yondu regained his composure first.  “The med bay has a private suite for the medic.  When you take over that job, we’ll talk about moving you in there.”

 

Amelia hung her head.  “I don’t know enough to do that job.”

 

Yondu dug through his coat pockets.  “Here.” He handed her a package.

 

“What is it?”

 

“Open it.”

 

Amelia turned the box over in her hands.  “ _Did you wrap this?_ ” she asked, her voice going soft.

 

Yondu looked distinctly uncomfortable.  “ _I thought that was what Terrans did._ ” he said gruffly.

 

The wrapping was awkward.  The paper he had found had flowers on it, but seemed to be an ad for … something. The actual product had been removed and two copies of the paper had been patched together.  She ran her hands over the package and looked up at him.  His skin darkened.  “ _If you don't want it, give it back._ ”

 

She carefully undid the paper, being sure not to tear it.  Inside was a clear piece of plastic.  She had no idea what it was, but when she looked up at Yondu, he was watching her expectantly.  This time, she blushed. “ _I’m sorry. I don’t know what this is._ ”

 

“It’s a book.”  He grabbed it away from her and showed her were there was a slight bump.  He took her hand and pressed her thumb over the bump.  The plastic lit up.  There was a list:

 

The Complete Galatic Encyclopedia

The Concise Medical Dictionary (Multi Species Edition)

The Med-Tech 8000 Bio-scanner: Operators Manual

Imaging in Flight: Mobile Response to Mass Casualty Events

Clinical Chemistry In A Multi-Species Setting

Better Living Through Microbiology

Bond-Mend PreLoaded Injector Sets: A User’s Guide

IV: Identity and Value

 

“Wow!  This is… _awesome and terrifying._ ”

 

“ _Why do you say that?_ ”  He frowned and took the book out of her hands.

 

“ _I’m really going to have to practice my reading skills to make it through those._ ”

 

“You don’t read the whole thing.  You just look up stuff you want to know.  Or not, if you don’t want it.”  he said gruffly.

 

Amelia flung herself at Yondu and hugged him tight.  “ _Thank you so much_.”

 

Yondu hadn’t been expecting that.  He froze and by the time he realize he should be hugging her back, she was pulling back from him.  

 

“I’m sorry!” she said.  “That was a little rude.  I should have asked first.  I won’t-“

 

“It’s fine.” he said.  “Time to get food.”

 

The thing was, Yondu had spent a lot of time touching Amelia.  He had washed her, he pushed her to where he needed her to be.  He spooned up behind her when they slept.  He had rubbed her feet. But aside from moving his hands so she could get up in the morning, Amelia had never touched him back.  Until just now.

 

It was… nice. He spent the whole walk to the dinning room thinking about that.

 

For supper, Yondu had a meat steak, mashed veg, fresh veg and mushroom sauce. Kraglin had a meat steak and fresh veg. Amelia was served the junior crew member special, which was a grey sludge.   One bite in and she was up getting more water. Yondu gave her a questioning look when she got back. 

 

"It's kinda salty today."  She ate about half of it with three refills of water then just pushed her plate away.   Yondu watched that with a frown.  

 

One of the pilots from further down the table asked, "If you aren't going to eat that, can I?"  

 

Amelia pushed the plate down to him. "Have at it."

 

When they got back to Yondu's room he asked, "Does that happen a lot?"

 

Amelia looked at him blankly. "Does what happen?"

 

"That you can't eat the grub?"

 

"No. Not often. Maybe three or four times a week."

 

Yondu frowned.   "If we need to get you som'ing different, you need to say."

 

Amelia shook her head, "No, it's fine. It causes enough problems getting special sleeping arrangements. Special food would just make it worse." Yondu looked unconvinced. "My pants still fit, I'm not losing weight."

 

"You want to look over the med bay tomorrow?"

 

"I won't know what I'm looking at until I do some reading.  If that is what you need me to do, maybe housekeeping in the morning and reading in the afternoon?"

 

"Not reading all day?"

 

"I won't remember it all if I read all day."

 

"Whatever you want."

 

“Yondu?”

 

“Wut?”

 

“I know you said you wanted me out of your bed after Jadoon.  Ummm… If that is so Kraglin can come back, do you think he would let me sleep in his bed?  You know, since it would be empty?  It would be better than sleeping on your floor while, you … um..”

 

“What are you rattling on about?”

 

Amelia took a deep breath and tried again.  “ _You told me I couldn’t sleep in your bed after Jadoon.  I noticed that when you both were drinking, Kraglin just crawled into bed with you.  If he belongs here,  I can keep that a secret if you want me to.  It might be better for everyone if you found me someplace safe to sleep that wasn’t the floor._ ”

 

He just frowned and kept staring at her.

 

“Nevermind.  I’m sorry.”  She pulled the spare blanket out of the cupboard and went to her piece of floor.

 

“You don’t have to sleep on the floor.”

 

She wrapped up in the blanket.   “ _Look, I’m not…  You have been very clear.  The first night and the second night and before we stopped on Jadoon.  You don’t want me sleeping in your bed.  And you have been very kind for letting me sleep there even though you don’t want me there.  I was ok sleeping alone for all seven nights on Jadoon.”_ She sat on the floor and leaned against the wall.  _“If you could leave the lights on, just a little, just enough so I can see a bit, that would be really helpful.”_

 

“ _I… got used to having you around._ ”

 

“ _Yeah.  I got used to you too.  It was nice feeling warm and safe.  But this is safe too._ ”

 

“ _Colder, though_.”

 

She started to say something, then stopped and shrugged and said, “Good night, Yondu.”

 

“Still early.  You don’t need to tuck in yet.”

 

“It’s been a long day and I’ll fall asleep better before it’s … _pitch black in here_.”

 

Yondu considered this as he sat at the little table in his room. He spent some time getting her payroll set up and was reading her medical report from Jadoon when her saw her moving out of corner of his eye. 

 

She had been reading on the book he had given her.  Now she pulled a cardboard box out from under a chair and was carefully putting the book inside. 

 

"What you got there?"

 

She startled, guiltily. "It's my... um... it's all the things you have given me to use. They all stay safe and tidy in the box."

 

He came over to look.  It was one of the shipping boxes her clothes came in. It was vaguely full with neatly folded pants and shirts, the plain underwear she had picked out, the socks she had made and a half made sweater. And now the book.  "Why'd you say 'things I gave you to use' instead of your things?"

 

She shrugged and avoided his gaze. "You could still take them back," she mumbled.

 

He took a moment to really think about that. Everything she had fit into a box small enough to slide under a chair and she was afraid he would take it.  "It's your stuff. I ain't gonna take it back.”  It came out a lot sharper than he intended.

 

She looked at him with sad eyes and watched his face for a moment before nodding and looking away. It didn't really look like she believed him. He found that upsetting, but he knew that his usual response to upsetting things, ie: yell at people 'til they stopped being upsetting, wasn't gonna work here. 

 

“ _Thank you._ ” It was barely a whisper. She sort of inched away from him and wrapped the blanket tighter around herself.

 

“I got used to having you around,” he repeated.  “You can sleep in the bed tonight, if you want.”

 

She closed her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at him and said, “ _It’s better for both of us if we know where we stand.  If I keep guilting you into …. If…_ ” she blushed and just blurted out, “ _I was getting the wrong idea.  I’m a junior crew member.  You’re the Captain, not…  This is better._ ”

 

“What the hell you talking about, girl?”

 

She seemed to just crumple in on herself as he barked that out.

 

“You aren’t my teddy bear.”

 

Fuck!  That conversation he remembered.  He didn’t know what to say to that. 

 


	17. The Conspiracy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Kraglin tries to be a good wing man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Directly follows Chapter 16. As in go back and re-read the last couple of paragraphs if you need a refresher.
> 
> This chapter is long enough that I would normally divide it in two. I just couldn't find a break point I was happy with.

Some one knocked,  Yondu stood up, with murder in his heart only to find Kraglin at the door with the reports on the remaining problematic crew members Yondu had asked for.

 

“Come in, pull up a chair.”

 

Kraglin peered over his captain’s shoulder.  “Why’s the girl on the floor?”

 

“I’m just reading for a while.  Hey, Kraglin!”

 

Kraglin nodded politely, “Amelia.”

 

Yondu ignored this.  “You get the list?”

 

“Yeah.  Tazerface is going to be a problem.  He don’t do subtle.  What he’s gonna need-“

 

There was a knock.

 

Yondu reached for the intercom button and yelled: “Fuck off, I’m busy!”

 

Kraglin interrupted, “That’ll be Quill, boss, I invited him.”

 

Yondu glared at him, but opened the door.  “Why’d you go and do that?”

 

“He grew up on board, he’s gonna know stuff.”

 

“Hey Yondu!” Peter said.  Then he frowned, “Why’s Amelia sleeping on the floor?”

 

Amelia looked up from where she was digging in the box of her things.  “I’m not sleeping on the floor!  I’m reading!  I like reading and I like blankets!”

 

“Wow.” said Quill, “That was... strangely defensive.”

 

“I just asked that.” said Kraglin. “You missed that part.  Anyway, as I was saying, Tazerface is gonna need a hole in his head and a push out an airlock before he will get the hint.”

 

Peter nodded, “Scrote, Wretch, Brahl and Halfnut are about the same.”

 

Yondu nodded.  “List ain’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

 

Amelia cleared her throat.  “Um… Narblik and Gef aren’t a problem individually, but they are easy to talk into doing something stupid and when they are together, they can talk each other into doing stupid things.”

 

They all turned to stare at her.

 

“Sorry.”

 

"Why'd you say that?" Kraglin asked. 

 

"Because it isn't any of my business and no one asked my opinion." Amelia replied quietly, eyes down, watching her knitting with a care that both Yondu and Kraglin knew was just for show. 

 

“Why’d you say that about Gef and Narblik?” Yondu asked.

 

“Well, Kraglin said you needed to clean house.  No one pays attention to housekeep and ‘everyone knows that stupid Terran can’t understand Common, only good for riding the Captain, keeping him happy.’”

 

Yondu tensed.  “Who said that?”

 

“Narblik.”

 

“That’s why you think they can talk each other into things?”

 

“No.  Narblik talking Gef into trying to move the live cable we were waiting for maintenance to come fix is what made me say that.  Then Narblik SAW Gef get zapped and he still let Gef talk him into trying to move it.”

 

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” said Peter.  “But most of the crew aren't exactly thinkers.”

 

“ _OK, but all it would take is one vaguely charismatic person to say ‘Fuck the officers!’ and these two would immediately side with him.  It only takes a few of those and you lose the moderates because they follow the herd._ ”  Amelia took a deep breath, “ _Look I understand the idea that people only need to be smart enough to follow orders, but they have to be able to follow your orders not anyone else.  People will always act in their own self interest, but they need to be able to understand what is in their best interests.  The kind of person you can talk into giving themselves an electrical burn is the kind of person you can talk into anything.”_

 

They all just kept staring at her.

 

Finally Yondu asked, “You been talking to Andrei?”

 

Amelia thought about this, “No.  Not about this.  But I bet he would be… _an excellent resource_.”

 

“Wut you know about strategy?” Kraglin demanded.

 

“Not enough,” admitted Amelia.  “I am getting the impression that you don’t trust your crew, though.  There were 46 men on the _Bounty_ and only eight of them where hard core _mutineers_.  They won because the Captain was unpopular so the moderates didn’t bother trying to stop them.  The leader of the _mutineers_ got most of them killed.  The Captain was smart enough to figure out how to save the people he was cast adrift with.  The men didn’t know what was in their best interests.”

 

They all considered this. Then Yondu asked, “What you know about this _Bounty_ , Quill?”

 

Petter got a deer in the headlights look.  “Um… nothing, Yondu.  It must have happened after I left.”

 

Amelia’s face froze and Yondu noticed.  It was her tell that something was wrong.  Din’t matter.  The boy din’t know.

 

“So what do we do to gain the loyalty of the moderates?”

 

“I don't know.  Talk to Andrei.”

 

Yondu looked over at Kraglin, who had his scheming face on, except Yondu didn't think it was directed to the crew problem.  There was another ten or twenty minutes where the three of them talked about various crew members and Amelia knit quietly.

 

Peter left.  While Yondu was seeing him out Kraglin went and sat next to Amelia on the floor.  Once the door closed, he asked her, “You sleeping on the floor ‘cuz the Boss went whoring for a week?”

 

She blushed and shook her head.

 

“I know he ain’t fucking you.  I also know you sleeping on the floor weren't his idea.” 

 

Amelia closed her eyes and pressed her lips together.  The colour drained from her face and she started to tremble.  Yondu remembered telling her that if anyone found out he wasn’t raping her, that he would have to. Watching her now, he really regretted that conversation.  “Leave ‘er alone, Kraglin.”

 

“Boss, only two things changed.  Jadoon or the night before where we all just slept in the same bed.  If her bein’ on the floor is my fault, I gotta fix it.”

 

“It isn't your fault, Kraglin.” Amelia said.  “And it isn't anything to do with Jadoon.”

 

Kraglin frowned.  Then he turned to Yondu, “I tol’ you!  You shoulda found paper that wasn’t a butt plug ad.”

 

Amelia gave a quiet snort that may have been an attempt not to laugh.  “It had such pretty flowers on it, though.” She said.

 

Yondu relaxed a little.  “I don’t want you gossiping this around, but I tol’ her, I didn’t want her in my bed after Jadoon.”

 

Kraglin just stared at him for a moment.  “You ijit! Why you go and do that then?”

 

“He doesn't have to answer that.” Amelia said.  “It’s his bed, he doesn’t have to share.”

 

Kraglin turned to face her. “Well, that’s just stupid.”

 

“Kraglin.” Yondu tone was vaguely threatening.

 

“Shit boss!  I can understand her bein’ afraid of all of us.  I can understand her not wanning a grizzled old cuss like you.  Hell, I can understand her deciding the floor ain’t gonna get all handsy in the night or not knowing that the girls on Jadoon don't count as competition.  What I can’t understand is you kicking her out of bed when you wanner there!”

 

“Do you two need a moment?” Amelia asked.

 

“No!”  It was shouted in stereo as they both turned on her.

 

“He doesn’t get all handsy in the night.” Amelia added quietly.

 

“Let me guess, you tol’ her that ‘cuz falling for her wasn’t part of your-" here Kraglin did what Amelia could only think of as jazz hands "-big plan and now yous too stubborn to take it back.”

 

“Get out!’ Yondu roared.  It was Kraglin he was talking to but it was Amelia who bolted from the room.

 

“Shit!”  Yondu wasn’t built for running and the girl could sprint as fast as Quill.

 

But Kraglin had longer legs.  He caught up to her just after she skidded around a corner and crashed into a group of Ravagers.  She was backing away from them as Kraglin rounded the corner.

 

“Where were you planning on running to?” He asked.  “Yondu can be a scary mo’fo, but where was you planning to go?”

 

Amelia didn't say anything.  She just stared nervously at the men in front of her.

 

Kraglin looked past her.  “Czar, bring 'er back to the Captain’s cabin, would ya?”  Then he turned and left.

 

The big, grey-green guy with pointed ears tackled Amelia and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of flour.  Then he followed Kraglin, ignoring her struggles.  “What she doing out here?” he asked.

 

“Lover’s quarrel.” Kraglin said.

 

Czar-doon froze.  He set Amelia down and took her face between her hands.”Yondu is a nasty bastard who doesn't put up with shit from no one.  But you do right by him and he’ll never do you wrong.  The Badoon slaughtered his people and sold the children into slavery.  He don’t hold that against me.  He never treated me no different than anyone else on board.” He hesitated for a moment.  “Whatever he’s doing to you, he has a reason and he’s not actually trying to hurt you none.  Understand?”

 

Amelia swallowed and nodded.

 

“Now, I ain’t letting go your arm, but can we walk back or do you need me to drag you?”

 

Amelia licked her lips and whispered, “I can walk.”

 

Czar was so big, his hand covered her arm from her armpit almost to her elbow.  She was aware that it wouldn’t take much effort for him to give her the sort of crush injury she wouldn’t recover from, but he was being careful, holding on tight enough not to allow wiggle room, but not enough to leave bruising.

 

Yondu caught up to them at that point and bellowed, “NEVER do that again!”

 

Amelia looked away and started to cry.

 

“Easy there boss. She already had enough of a scare that she gets the point,” Tullk said

 

Yondu froze.  “What happen?”

 

“She came around the corner at full speed and found us.” Tullk replied.

 

“What if it hadn’t been you?”

 

“I think she gets that as a risk now, boss.”

 

“C’mon.” Yondu grabbed her other arm and dragged her back towards his room.  She stumbled a little when Czar didn’t quite let go in time.  Yondu caught her and kept walking.  "I ain't gonna hurt you girl, you can turn off the water works now." He sighed, "when you can.  You know why that was a bad idea?"

 

She nodded, not looking at him.

 

"You gonna do that again?"

 

She shook her head, then whispered, "No, Yondu."

 

"Good girl."

 

Kraglin was already waiting in Yondu’s room when they got back.  He tightened his grip on Amelia’s arm and growled, “Get out.”

 

Kraglin planted his feet and stuck out his pigeon chest.  “I ain’t letting you wreck this Yondu.  You are my boss, but you are also my friend.  Now, get undressed, you get the wall side of the bed.”

 

“What are you doing?”

 

“Well, she ain’t gonna wanna sleep with you alone after you done gone and scared her like that, is she?”

 

“I ain’t letting you make her sleep with-“ Yondu started.

 

“Kraglin-“ Amelia interrupted, wiping her eye with her left hand since Yondu still had a firm grip on her right,  “how much time did you spend sleeping in that bed before I got here?”

 

“Enough to not believe for an instant that he hasn’t gotten handsy.  He’ll rut up behind you and rub your belly every time.”

 

“Fuck! Don’t tell her that!”

 

“She's been here weeks, I think she already knows, boss.”

 

Amelia considered this.  “Yondu, you told me no one cared about sexual orientation.”

 

“We don’t, but I don't hump your leg in my sleep.”

 

“No you don’t.  But I also don't mind if you want to sleep with Kraglin.”

 

Yondu groaned.  “ _This is because Terrans is monogamous, ain’t it?”_

 

Amelia, who was well aware of the studies about HLA markers and the unexpected discoveries while trying to find transplant matches in families, made a point of just not getting into that one.  “ _If you are in an established relationship and I’m in the way, that just isn’t fair.”_

 

Kraglin jumped in with, “It ain’t like that.  Now take off your pants and get in bed.” He made eye contact with Yondu then added, “Please.”

 

“You don’t have to do this.” Yondu said.

 

“Are we just talking sleep?”

 

“Yes.” Kraglin and Yondu said together.

 

“Is this what you want, Yondu?”

 

“Ain’t about what I want.  It’s about what you are comfortable with.”

 

“Nope.  By mutual agreement or not at all.  I was mostly fine with how things were.  It wasn’t working for you.  You get to say no too.”

 

The look he gave her then would have made her step back, except that he still hadn’t let go of her arm.  “I want all of you. In every way possible. But I want you begging me for more, not crying for me to stop.  I can wait for that and if it don't happen, well, better that than some fucking fawn response.”

 

Amelia swallowed, wide eyed, and nodded.

 

“There! Was that so hard?”  Kraglin looked smug.

 

“Can you let go of my arm, please?”

 

Yondu looked down at Amelia. “You going to run again?”

 

“I don’t have anywhere to go.”

 

Yondu let go of Amelia’s arm and turned on Kraglin.  “And that, right there, is why this is a shit idea!  Whatever god damn sentimental crap you is hoping for, ain’t going to happen!  She ain’t choosing me, she’s choosing to avoid what’s on the other side of the door.”

 

All Amelia could think, watching all of this go down was, ‘Yup, a night light, a teddy bear and years, YEARS of therapy.  For all of us.’  What she said was, “Look, this is a really important conversation to have.  And at some point, all three of use need to sit down and have it.  When we are calm.  But right now, I am exhausted.  Today has been so long and complicated, it’s been like… four chapters of some badly written space opera.

 

“I am tired.  My feet hurt.  Can we just wait until everyone is a little more rested before we have it?“

 

Yondu scooped her up and set her on the bed.  He pulled off her shoes and socks.   “Go to sleep. Kraglin and I need to have a little chat.”

 

Yondu’s stateroom was huge compared to the barracks, but it was still less than 400 square feet.   There wasn’t really anywhere they could go in the room and not be over heard.  He bustled his first mate out into the hallway and sealed the door.  Girl wasn’t getting out; no one was getting in. Then he grabbed Kraglin by the shoulder of the man’s uniform, and dragged him into the room next door.

 

Kraglin’s room was still bigger than the bunk rooms, but it was only half as big as Yondu’s.  Once the door was closer, he turned an Kraglan and very nearly screamed, “What the HELL was that?”

 

“Boss, I know the plan was to give’er to Quill.  But it’s ok to change the plan.  Girl’s a medic!  All that shit she was talking about needing the trust of the crew?  Givin’ em a medic will help with that.  It will keep her safe, ‘cuz no one wants to be the one to cost the team the one person on board who can sew.  And, if you are fuckin’ the medic, no one’s going to say shit about that, ‘cuz, aside for the Captain, who the hell could?”

 

Yondu considered this.  

 

Kraglin continued.  “I saw ‘er face when you gave ‘er the book.  If she ain’t soft on you yet, she could be.” He did NOT add ‘and you never buy a god damn thing for anyone else, let alone go to the trouble of trying to replicate some stupid ass Terran gift exchange custom.’

 

“If I go soft on her, she becomes a way for people to get at me.”

 

“If she is the medic, and the crew trust her, they won’t let that happen.”

 

“She ain’t the medic yet.”

 

“You watch the vids of her sewing up Andrei?  ‘Cuz I did.  Girl’s got skills.  Don’t think just ‘cuz housekeeping stayed on the ship means that wasn’t gossiped around.  Won’t take long ’til she is patching up the crew.”

 

“Sewing up one of your own is one thing, might be a while ‘fore she’s ready to start patching up someone like Winch.”

 

“She won't have to patch up Winch.  No one goes after the head of maintenance, same way no one goes after the medic. You’re trying to change to subject.  Fine.  I’m just saying, you wanner, might be worth trying for.  I know you can use charm, seen you do use it on clients ‘fore.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Loving the reader comments! Thank you all so much!


	18. Inside Amelia's Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING FOR ANXIETY AND THOUGHTS OF SELF HARM
> 
>  
> 
> **** This chapter talks about mental health issues. I am not a doctor. Please do not try to self diagnose or treat based on this chapter. If you feel like the negative self talk or the slightly suicidal thoughts sound like something you would say, please get help, from some one who is qualified to address these issues.****

 

Amelia woke up alone.  It wasn’t dark. There was no sign of Yondu.  As near as she could tell, the clock seemed to be indicating it was well into the night.  She got up enjoying her first moments of solitude in what felt like months. 

 

It was really nice to be able to have a good stretch without anyone staring at her.  Her arm itched.  The cut had been healed for her while she was in quarantine but it still itched.  They had erased all physical signs of, what she had started to think of as The Worst Day.  She had named it that in an attempt to remind herself that she had survived and it was over.  Except it wasn’t.  It still haunted her.  She was still afraid.  She still had night mares.  It meant that every interaction with everyone on the ship was viewed through the lens of ‘Is this contributing to Stockholm syndrome?’

 

She wondered idly if Yondu was taking the opportunity to make up with Kraglin.

 

There was a dynamic she didn’t understand.  It felt odd to have some guy’s boyfriend trying to get you to sleep with them.

 

She reviewed that sentence in her head.  Um… yeah.  Definitely odd.

 

Amelia was definitely hungry.  As much as she told Yondu that skipping dinner wasn’t a big deal, she was still hungry.  She wondered how many of the crew were in the same boat.  Yes, feeding this many people was hard enough when they were all the same species, she couldn’t image how hard it was when they were all different with different dietary requirements, but she thought of how happy the pilot was to get the other half of her dinner and decided that there must be a lot of hungry people on the ship.  

 

Yondu had said crew could pay for better food.  Maybe she should talk to Andrei and see if she was actually getting paid to clean and how much of her income would go to better food.  Then she wondered about that.  If the crew could buy better food, but so many of them didn’t, why not?  It was one of those basic things.  Was it so expensive that you couldn’t afford to eat and pay for  … other things?

 

They had spend a week on a, well, let’s go with resort.  Did Yondu pay for that or was that what the crew was saving up for?  Like Peter saving up for his own ship.

 

She wiggled out of her bra and  jeans and turned down the light.

 

She spent some serious time wondering if Yondu was going to turn up later. Then she just spent time wondering about Yondu.  Based on the crinkles by his eyes when he smiled, he was too old for her, but then he was an alien and how did she even guess relative age?

 

And that was the thing.  Alien.  How did she even begin to guess what he was thinking?  OK, so when he broke out the declarations of intent, he was pretty damn clear.  But…  She was reasonably attractive in an average sort of way by standards on Earth.  From the point of view of a blue space marsupial.. she had no idea.  His previous statement to the effect of ‘any port in a storm’ hadn’t exactly been romantic.  She could completely understand that masturbation, as a regular thing, got kind of lonely and it was nice to have someone to help scratch that itch.  Was this a friends with benefits situation?  Protests aside, was she a beard to hide his… whatever with Kraglin?  Her Common had been limping along at the time, but she was pretty sure the woman at the resort had suggested they liked three ways.

 

From a purely selfish reason on her part she was more than happy to keep bed sharing. The ship was cold.  She suspected the crew didn’t notice giving that their uniforms had up to six layers in various places, but she was running around in jeans and t-shirts.  Aside from when she was working hard with housekeeping, she was at best slightly chilly and at worst, shivering uncontrollably.

 

The translator implant was taking some getting used to.  So far all it was doing was giving her a head ache.  The attendant had insisted it would take a while to calibrate to her language centre so she could start to understand people.

 

That was the other thing.  She didn’t understand the local currency, but she was strongly suspecting Yondu had spend some serious coin on her.  Clothes, yarn, the Doctor on Earth, the trip to the Doctor on Earth!  The man had organized two interplanetary trips for her and her clothes.  Back home hospital stays weren’t cheap and unless outer space brothels had socialized medical care, a week stay would have been expensive.

 

How much did a translator implant cost?

 

It didn’t seem like he was coming back tonight.  She should try to go to sleep.

 

“ _I don’t like being alone._ ”

 

OK.  She wasn’t sure why she said that out loud.  Besides, it wasn’t true.  She was a life long ambivert.  She loved spending time with people, sure, but she still treasured time alone.  Hell, that was one of the nice things about David.  He made sure she got time to…

 

OK.  Time to redirect that train of thought.

 

Nope.

 

OK.  Not actually dying.  It’s just a panic attack.  It just feels like I’m dying, but it will pass in a couple of minutes and I’ll be fine.  Just breathe.  Slower.  Don’t hyperventilate you stupid- No.  Breathe in count to five, breathe out. It will be fine.  I just need to calm down.  Maybe I should call someone.

 

No.  Yondu is busy fucking Kraglin, if I interrupt he’ll toss me to the crew. No!  No, he said he wouldn't do that.  He wants you safe.  He has plans.

 

Yeah.  They didn’t eat Peter, but I’m easier to catch.  No!  Deep breaths this will pass.

 

I have pills, maybe if I take a few extra- No!  They don’t work that way.

 

Amelia found the intercom.  She had seen people do this.  She had no idea how to spell Kraglin’s name but he was in Yondu’s speed dial.

 

He answered on the first ring. “Amelia?  What’s wrong?”

 

She stared at the screen and couldn’t get the words out.  She gasped and whimpered and saw Yondu bolt out of bed in the back ground.

 

“I’m sorry!  I can’t… I need-“

 

The door opened and Yondu scooped her up and held her tight and yelled for Kraglin.

 

Kraglin hurried in and stood Amelia on her feet.  He crossed her arms over her chest, each hand on the opposite shoulder and hugged her tight to his chest.  He held her as she breathed in and tighten his grip as she breathed out.  “ _It’s OK.  You are going to be OK.  This will start to help in a few minutes.”_

 

_“What will help?”_

 

_“Critters in a panic relax when they are held tight.”_

 

Amelia tried to think about this.  He was right, she was started to feel better, but the holding tight thing sounded familiar - “ _Wait!  Are you being the human equivalent of a Thundershirt?”_

 

_“I don’t know what that means, but you are sounding better.”_

 

Amelia became aware that Kraglin wasn’t wearing a shirt.  His chest wasn’t covered in hair, per se, it was more like finely spaced, soft bristles. It felt weird against her cheek.  

 

Yondu asked, “ _Nightmare?”_

 

_“Not exactly. I was awake for a while, then I had a panic attack.  I didn’t want to bother you but I just couldn’t shake it and I started to think about taking my pills.”_

 

 _“Fuck.  You didn’t take them to the Quarantine.”_   Yondu remembered.

 

Amelia considered this.  “ _They were giving me anti-anxiety meds, so I didn’t notice.”_ She thought for a moment.  _“Can I have one now and another at, say, lunch?  It is going to take a couple of days to build up to therapeutic level again.  I ..  I’m not a doctor or a pharmacist.  I’m not qualified to be treating anyone with anxiety, let alone myself when my judgement is affected.”_

 

Kraglin hugged her a little tighter.

 

“I don’t think that last one was the anxiety talking.”

 

“Maybe not, but that’s the thing.  I’ve heard people say, ‘Well, sure sometimes I look at the cliff and a tiny part of me says ‘jump’ but I would never actually do it.  Everyone’s brains tells them stupid shit like that sometimes.’ but, no, that would never occur to most people.”

 

“I started thinking I could take extra pills and feel better, but I know, KNOW that isn’t how that works.”

 

Yondu came up behind her, put one hand on Kraglin’s shoulder and stroked Amelia’s hair with the other.  “Thank you for getting us.   You did good.”

 

Kraglin was considering this, “When you are all snuggled up with the Captain, he holding you tight like this?”  He felt Amelia stiffen.  “He holding you tight and then you don’t have nightmares?”

 

“Yeah… I don’t know that necessarily proves the two are related, though.  _Correlation doesn’t prove causation._ ”

 

“But if it works.” 

 

Amelia sighed.  “I had this expression back home, _‘As long as it isn’t harmful, don’t rain on someone’s placebo.’_ ”

 

Yondu watched them both.  “I get the wall side and Kraglin takes the edge.  How do you feel about being stuck in the middle?”

 

Amelia didn’t say anything, she just nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My AO3 inbox is my happy place! Share the love or offer helpful suggestions!
> 
> I have a couple more chapters s on deck and am planning to end this work once Amelia takes over as Medic. 
> 
> So, what would you like to see happen before then? I can't promise to work it into the story line but I'm curious.


	19. I Don't Get Paid Enough For This

It was once again weird to wake up as the filling in the sandwich.  For a skinny guy, Kraglin sure was a furnace.

 

Yondu was once again doing that thing where he was tracing little patterns between her bellybutton and the top of her panties while snoring slightly.

 

What had Kraglin said?  Rut up behind you and rub your belly?  Was this an alien sex thing? She didn’t want that.  She could see where at some point she might, but not yet.

 

She wondered if that was the drugs or the … Worst Day.  If it was the drugs, she was just fine saying good bye to her sex drive until the other, emotional mess was sorted out.

 

Since she was awake, however, she squirmed around so she was facing Yondu and looked at him.  He didn’t look peaceful in his sleep.  He still looked pissed off, but a more relaxed pissed off.  He didn’t have any chest hair and she was curious about the goatee.  Up close, it didn't really look quite like hair.  She didn’t want to poke it, in case he woke up.

 

She closed her eyes and snaked her arm around his body and pressed her cheek to his chest.  He woke as soon as she touched him, but didn’t say anything.  Once she had settled herself against his chest, he stopped holding his breath.  She kept her breathing slow and even and waited to see what he would do.

 

He rolled over on to his back, so she was draped across his chest and began to gently stoke her hair.  That was nice.  Amelia felt consciousness slip away.

 

Amelia woke to a pounding head ache when Kraglin threw off the covers and rushed to the bathroom. She went from slightly too warm to very cold as air hit her back.  “ _Hey!  Not nice freezing your bed mate, dude!_ ”

 

Yondu burst out laughing and pulled the covers back over her.  He rubbed his hand quickly up and down her back, chasing away the chill.  “You’re going to have to get up sooner or later.  You can’t stay in bed forever.”

 

“ _What was that you said?  Stay in bed forever?  I can live with that._ ”

 

Yondu gave her a look at damn near smouldered.  Kraglin caught it as he was coming out of the bathroom.  Amelia missed it with her face smooshed into Yondu’s chest.

 

“Fine.  Ten more minutes.”

 

Kraglin smirked and gave himself a literal pat on the back.

 

Yondu retaliated by making a face and flipping him the bird.

 

“Do you think you have any pain meds in the med bay?  My head really hurts.”

 

“No.  The last medic left a few years back,” Kraglin explained as he got dressed.  “The crew raided all the drugs shortly after he left.  We could put a call out and get you something unregulated and illegal if you really needed it.”

 

“Ugh!  It doesn’t hurt that bad.”  Amelia started to push herself off Yondu, “You don't have to let me do this.”  He pulled her tighter.  She laughed.  “I meant drool on you.”

 

“You din’t drool.”  He watched her for a moment before adding. “You did the right thing.  Your breathing starts to go funny like that or you start to get scared, you get me or Kraglin or someone, understand?”

 

She nodded.  “I need to get up and find my pants.”

 

Yondu wasn't letting her up yet. "How often does that happen?"

 

"It isn't usually quite that bad.  I usually have one or two panic attacks a day but they don't last very long."

 

Kraglin asked, "That happen 'fore you left Terra?"

 

"No."

 

"So it's us?"

 

"No!  Well, maybe a little. Most of the crew look like extras from a _monster movie_.  Mostly it was The Worst Day, right before I left.  I keep telling myself that it's over and I survived, but I don't feel safe here either."

 

Yondu and Kraglin shared a look. "We're working on that." Yondu said, finally letting go. 

 

Amelia scrambled into pants. She had a pee and brushed her teeth. "Does anyone have time to take me to the showers?"

 

Yondu made the time and kicked everyone out, despite shift change being peek time for showers. Then he just leaned against the wall and watched. He tried to be dispassionate, concentrating on where she did and did not touch herself, watching for places she shied away from.  The first time he brought her here, it had been dispassionate. He was mostly just putting on a show for the crew. This time was different. This time he could imagine her hands on his skin. 

 

God damn it! He was so fucked. 

 

\----

 

That morning, she asked Andrei about buying better food. 

 

She was surprised when he used her palm print to access her account.  They could see where the kitchen had been charging her for basic meals. She wasn't paying rent on a bunk, but was drawing half wages for her mornings in housekeeping. 

 

He helped her sign up for more expensive meals.  It would have been pretty pricey with her only earning half the day, but since she wasn't renting a bunk, it was doable.  She signed up for ten servings each of fresh fruit and fresh veg in a ten day week.. She was hesitant about signing up for meat protein; she didn't want it if it was self aware. Andrei laughed and explained it was all lab generated. They couldn't afford naturally produced animal products. She opted for five servings in ten days. The rest of her calories would be a slightly higher grade of the filler she had been eating. 

 

Andrei also had thoughts on the ship they had inherited. He was planning on buying out the others so he could co-own it with Amelia. 

 

"Why?"

 

"Sleeping on a ship is way better than even a private room.  There are four rooms. We could each have two. Private kitchen, private bathrooms, personal laundry."

 

"You want to share the ship?"

 

"Yeah. If Yondu will let you."

 

"I don't know how to fly it."

 

"Peter and I can teach you."

 

Amelia thought about it. "I'll take you up on the flight lessons. The rest I need to think about."

 

They spent the morning cleaning hallways. It was way less disgusting than cleaning the barracks.  Peter was once again assigned to her crew. She didn't think that was an accident. Yondu trusted him, as much as he trusted anyone.  After listening to Peter babble his way through getting the plots wrong to several 1980's movies, she ditched him after break and put her headphones in.  She listened to music while mopping the floor. 

 

Which is how Peter came around the corner to find her dancing with the mop and singing softly along with Marianas Trench.  "'Cause I want you all to myself. I can try and suck it up. I just can't suck it up. Make me feel like-". At which point, Peter fell in love a little bit and Amelia caught him staring and ripped the ear buds out. 

 

"Do you like dancing?" he asked excitedly. 

 

"Sometimes."

 

"We should go. Next time we're in port."

 

"Umm.. yeah... maybe.  I don’t know that I will be allowed to leave.”

 

“We’ll figure something out.”

 

“Why is this place so filthy?  You have a whole team of housekeepers.”

 

“Yeah, about that.  Usually housekeeping only cleans the officer’s rooms, the showers and the kitchen.  Unless there is a plague or blood bath or other thing causing massive crew turn over.”

 

“Yeah, that would be me and blood bath and a plague all rolled into one.”

 

“OK, so that sounded worse than I intended, but-“

 

Amelia turned and left him sputtering.  “ **Andrei, can we stop for lunch soon?** ”

 

“ **Finish the hallway first.  And go easy on the boy, kitten, he’s trying to be nice**.”

 

“ **He’s not very good at it.** ”

 

Andrei just laughed.

 

‘Hey! No fair switching to Russian so I can’t understand you!”

 

Amelia smirked “Then learn faster.”

 

By lunch time, Peter had learned to say, ‘ **Where’s the bathroom?** ’, ‘ **Who peed on the floor?** ” and ‘ **I don’t get paid enough for this.** ’  And Andrei had laughed so hard his sides ached.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got distracted from writing today because I found the John Oliver interview of the Dalai Lama


	20. Bad Wolf Lunch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is the chapter where all hopes of cannon compliance go out the window.

 At lunch, she cornered Yondu and quietly suggested that housekeeping do an inventory on the med bay.  He refused, but sent her and Kraglin to do it.  “Not everyone can open the cupboards in there.  You and Kraglin can have a look at what’s left.”

 

Kraglin showed her how to use the IV program on her book to identify the equipment they had, then she made a list of what she needed to learn how to use first.   Top of the list was the Laser-Heal (tm) and the BoneMend (tm).  The medical imaging unit was the most amazing thing and took an hour or two to figure out even the basics.  She was pretty sure she wasn’t using it to it’s full potential, but she could get it to do what she expected from medical imagine equipment.

 

After finishing the inventory, Kraglin helped her put a first aid guide on her book and she started keeping a list of items she didn't have that she should.

 

Over the next couple of weeks, Yondu started to slowly expand number of the people she was allowed to be alone with to include the men from the shuttle.  She also started patching up the crew.  Nothing big, just cuts and scrapes.  Everyone had their own first aid kit which was so weird.  It meant she had to learn how to use new tools each time.

 

Much to her embarrassment, she had accidentally called Tullk _Big Bad Wolf_ the one day when she was exhausted.  She had tried to explain that it went with the ‘all the better to see you with” comment from the first time they met. He had laughed, but apparently Peter had already told them that story.  Peter was fond of the Kevin Bacon version. They had been good friends ever since.  He and Czar started teaching her how to fight.  It didn’t go well.  She could throw a reasonable punch for someone her size, but as soon as she was pinned, she would panic every time.  So they taught her how to use a blaster instead.

 

Peter and Andrei were teaching her the theory of how to pilot.  She felt she understood what they were saying, but was happier letting someone else do it.  This was just as well, because all she could learn was the theory.  Yondu would not authorize a test flight, much to Peter’s disgust.

 

It just became the routine. Amelia would sleep in Yondu's bed with him and/or Kraglin.  Or Kraglin would take her it his room if Yondu was busy.  Everyone kept their clothes on. Amelia still had panic attacks but she could talk to both Yondu and Kraglin and Peter, it turned out, about them. They got less frequent. 

 

One day, she was in the dining hall reading up on plastic surgery and asked Tullk if he had ever considered it.

 

“Nah.  I’m used to my face now.  Plus, it makes me look pretty bad ass.”

 

Amelia laughed.

 

A monster from the next table came over.  He was fully armed, which was against the rules for the dining hall. “That is a piss poor scar to be bragging about, Tullk.” He said.  Then he pointed to his own face which looked like it had been badly burned, but which Amelia wasn’t going to speculate on. 

 

“I have real scars!  Manly scars!  Bad ass, Tazerface scars!”

 

There was a cheer from a near by table.  Amelia ignored him.  Or tried to, until he grabbed her and hauled her out of her chair.  “Let go!” she said.

 

“Yondu letting you play doctor with him, little girl?  You put your hand in his pouch?” he bellowed with a sneer.

 

“Zataon are marsupials, but the males don’t have pouches.”

 

“Ooh!  Look at you, with your big words!” His volume setting seemed to be stuck on loud.

 

“Let go of her.”  Tullk had gone very quiet.

 

Tazerface pulled out a blaster.  “Or what?”

 

The girl turned to face him and ran her hands across his body.  “Like that, do you?” He bellowed, looking down into her solemn face.

 

“Let go of me.” She repeated.

 

Tullk took a step closer. 

 

“Ah! Don’t do anything stupid.” Tazerface said, watching Tullk.

 

“Do as the lady says and let go of her before anyone gets hurt.” Tullk said.

 

Without even looking, Tazerface pulled her closer and stabbed himself on the bowie knife Amelia had pulled from his sheath earlier. They stared at each other in shocked silence, the blaster falling from his hand.

 

As he collapsed to the ground, the knife sticking out of his chest, Amelia screamed once then started to tremble..

 

Tullk picked up the blaster and cuddled Amelia to his chest and calmly shot Tazerface in the head.

 

Tullk was still holding her and she was still shaking when Yondu got there a few minutes later. “ _I am so sorry!  It was an accident! I didn’t mean to, I wouldn't never… I…_ ”

 

Tullk didn’t let go of her. He nuzzled her ear and whispered, “You need to stay here, he needs to Captain now.”

 

“ _Ok there girl.  It’s OK.  I need you to stop talking for a minute now. Understand?_ ”

 

Amelia nodded in response to both of them.  She pinched her lips together and tried to get her head into 'professional health care provider faced with a dead body' mode.

 

Yondu took the blaster from Tullk, who handed it over grip first.

 

“Y’all know I’m gonna watch the vid feed, but who wants to tell me what happened?”

 

Dave stood up.  “The girl and Tullk were sitting, having their lunch when Tazerface came over and pulled her out of her seat.  Both she and Tullk told Tazerface to let her go, but he din’t so she stabbed him.”

 

Amelia started to object but Tullk clamped a hand over her mouth. “Hush.”

 

Krss piped up with, “You forgot the part where when they told him to let go, he pulled a blaster on them.  Blasters aren’t allowed in the dining hall.  After she stabbed him in the chest, she started screaming and Tullk shot him to make sure he was dead.”

 

Yondu asked, “What did she scream?”

 

There was a general shrugging of shoulders.

 

“Was it a justified kill?”

 

A round of nodding.  Someone Amelia recognized but didn’t know said, “He started it and they gave him lots of chances to let her go.”

 

Someone else said, “And you were very clear about her being off limits, although, she seems OK with Tullk covering her mouth like that.”

 

Tullk moved his hand.

 

Yondu turned to glare at Tullk.  “That’s a separate issue, for another time.”

 

He turned back to the room.  “Who gets credit for the kill?”

 

The general consensus was that it was Amelia.

 

“Does anyone want a formal hearing for this?”

 

Much shaking of heads.  “Last chance. “ Yondu said.  “It sounds pretty straight forward, but if anyone wants to complain, you do it now or not at all.”

 

After a long moment of silence, he announced.  “Fine.  We’ll settle up for Tazerface day after tomorrow.”

 

Everyone just went back to their dinners.  Yondu hit the intercom button and paged house keeping to the dinning room.

 

Only then did he turn and face Tullk and Amelia. “You two!” He barked.  “My office! Now!”

 

Tullk nodded. “C’mon,” he said to Amelia, taking her hand and leading her away.  Yondu didn’t immediately follow.  They made it to his office and Tullk told Amelia Yondu would be a while.  He watched her shivering.

 

“Need me to get someone?  Only, it would be better if you didn’t ask for Kraglin until this is done.”

 

“What’s going to happen?”

 

“Boss is going to give me shit for letting the bastard get that close.  He’s going to tell you to never pick up a weapon you don’t intend to use. Then he’s going to shout at us until he feels better.”

 

“I think I’m going to be sick.”

 

Tullk hustled her into the tiny powder room in the back of the office.  Amelia wasn’t sick, but she washed her hands and splashed some water on her face.  Tullk pulled out a flask and took a swig before offering it to her.  She waved it off.

 

“I know Yondu wants to keep you safe and he’s going to be pissed right off about how today went down.” Tullked paused for a moment. “As your combat instructor, I want you to know, you did well.”

 

Amelia nodded.  “I don’t know what to say to that.”

 

“It’s your first kill.  They can be a bit upsetting.  It gets… You will get better at coping.”

 

Amelia didn’t say anything, but she thought, ‘Not my first death.  I work in health care.  I have been up close and personal with death many, MANY times before. The only difference is that this time, I was holding the knife.’

 

They sat in silence for a while before Yondu burst in.  “What were you thinking?  Why did you let him get that close?  Did you plan this?”

 

“What?  No Boss!  It was the cafeteria, I wasn’t even armed!  I would never have put her at risk on purpose!” Tullk started.

 

Amelia interrupted.  “We were just talking when he came over and died, tragically, from testosterone poisoning.”

 

That stopped Yondu in his tracks.  “What?”

 

“He was trying to Alpha male the room.  He literally described himself as manly while holding an unwilling female right before asking if I put my hands in you.  When you watched the video, did you notice who was cheering him on?  Because that could be important.”

 

Yondu got really quiet at that.  “Did you plan this?” His voice was that lower conversational tone he took when he didn’t want to upset her.

 

“No!” Amelia stopped, took a deep breath and said,  “Once he grabbed me he wasn’t going to let go.  He didn’t leave himself away to de-escalate the situation.  He was the only one who was armed in the room.  He was gripping my arm hard enough that it really hurt and I had no idea how long it would take for you to get there.”

 

Yondu noticed that her arm was already quiet bruised in that dark inky way that suggested it was going to get worse for a couple of days.

 

“He’s a Stark, right?” Amelia corrected herself,  “He was a Stark.  I didn’t think I would get through his chest plate, but I was hoping I could cut the tendons in the arm holding the blaster and at least give Tullk a fighting chance.”

 

They both stared at her.  She was still shaking.  “I have spent the last two months studying the anatomy of the species on your crew.  If he hadn’t pulled me closer at that exact moment, I could have done it.  I wouldn’t have made it through his chest plate on my own, but …he helped.”

 

Yondu went very quiet at that.  He stood there, very still watching her intently for a long moment.

 

Finally, Tullk asked, “Need me to leave, Boss?”

 

“Get her out of here!" Yondu said firmly. "Take her to the med bay, see if there is anything you can do about the bruising.  Take as many people from the hallway as you need.  Go armed.”

 

“Are you sure, boss?”

 

“Now is not the time to be questioning me.  Now get!”

 

Tullk nodded, “C’mon.”

 

A very downcast Amelia followed Tullk out in to the hallway.  Basically everyone she knew on board was right outside the door, all of them trying to look nonchalant. Tullk looked around and called Czar, Horuz and Oblo to follow them and the group of them started down the hallway to the med bay.  Peter tagged along.

 

“What happened?” He asked.  Tullk didn’t say anything.

 

Czar said, “Rumour has it she killed Tazerface.  I can’t believe that.”

 

Amelia whimpered slightly.  “He was so mad.  He couldn’t even say anything.  I’ve never seen him too pissed off to even yell.”

 

Tullk froze mid-step so that Czar almost crashed into him.  He stared at Amelia who looked like she was about to cry, then he started to laugh.  He laughed and laughed until he was gasping for breath.  He laughed until tears ran down his face. He laughed until he was leaning against the wall for support.

 

Amelia just watched wide eyed.  Eventually she said, “I don’t think this is very funny.  I didn’t think I was going to make it out of there alive.”

 

This did not help.  Tullk seemed to find this even funnier.

 

Finally he wiped his eyes and said, “Yondu wasn’t ANGRY.  I’ve served with him a good thirty years.  I know what angry looks like on him and THAT was not it. However, I have never seen him THAT turned on.  You are right that you almost didn’t make it out of the room.  And twenty units says you will be walking funny tomorrow.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reader poll:
> 
> Does Yondu:  
> a) seduce Amelia  
> b) take matters into his own hands  
> c) spend some quality time debriefing (ha!) his first mate  
> d) we'll never know because this isn't that kind of fic
> 
> Also, if you chose a, b or c, do you want that rolled into this fic, or is it time to make this timeline its own series and have it as a additional short story so that this work can stay M instead of E. I'm really curious to see what people say. No promises I will stick to the reader response since sometimes when I go to write I can't make it believable for the characters.
> 
> Either way, not expecting smut next chapter. It's already mostly written. Think chapter 22 if it happens
> 
> Feed the muse.


	21. The Medic Speaking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is surprisingly hard to think of names that sound like drug names but aren't actually drug names. So far, Google found no hits on this one, so I think I'm safe.

 

Amelia blushed but didn’t really take Tullk too seriously.  It had been a month since Yondu’s declaration of lust and he hadn’t brought it up again.  She didn’t ask any questions about what he and Kraglin had.  She expected they had more time alone than she did.

 

Hell, this was the perfect example.  Walking down to med bay to get a scan of her arm and she had five armed men with her.

 

Yondu had given her biometric access to the locked doors in the med bay, but there hadn’t been the chance to restock.  That meant that aside from the scanners, the only things left were the somewhat more esoteric items.  The stuff your regular grunt wouldn’t have the back ground to use.

 

None of it was particularly helpful right now.  The big gizmo to remove bruising was basically a super intense Bili light.  It would help hide the bruising, but not actually heal the tissue.

 

She ran the scanner over her arm.  The crush injury was somewhat bad, but the bone was intact.  Call it four to six weeks for return of full function.  She could live with that.  Any kind of over the counter pain meds would be helpful, but…  Maybe she could sweet talk Yondu into a side trip.

 

“Peter, what can you tell me about the man who… I killed today?”

 

“Don’t do that.” Tullk said.  “He’s dead.  You can’t change that.  You did what you had to do, don’t start trying to justify a kill after the fact.  It isn’t helpful.”

 

“He was an asshole.” Czar said.  “Couldn’t plan his way out of room with a clearly marked exit.  I’m amazed he survived as long as he did.”

 

Tullk sighed, then made sure the door was locked.  “Yondu had been looking for an excuse to get rid of him since shortly after Jadoon.  That’s why he asked if I had planned it.  BUT, it shouldn’t matter if he was a lovely man with an adoring wife and a litter of six smiling pups.  He was hurting you and, more importantly, he was breaking the ship’s rules.  You did the right thing.  Even if it wasn't what you were trying for.”

 

“Well,” Peter said, “at least you’ve stopped shaking.”

 

“That was the adrenaline wearing off.”

 

Someone banged on the door hard enough for them to actually hear it inside.  Everyone who had a blaster was suddenly holding it.  Czar checked the security cam.  “It’s Winch.”

 

He hit the intercom. “Waddya want?”

 

“Is Amelia in there?  I have a project for her.” Winch pushed a junior mechanic towards the security cam.  “I told him were have a whole box of spare arms, he could pick which ever he likes, but he wants to try to save the one he’s got first.”

 

Amelia shrugged.  “Send him in.  I’m not sure if I can help though.”

 

Czar unlocked the door and Winch and his charge came in.  Winch took one look at Amelia’s arm and asked.  “Is it true you killed Tazerface or did Yondu kill him after he saw that.”

 

“He.. um sort of hugged me while I was holding a big knife.”

 

“Wicked!” said the mechanic approvingly.

 

Amelia turned to him.  “I don’t really even need to image that to call it a _Colles’ Fracture_ , but lets see how bad it is.”

 

Everyone was, in Amelia’s opinion WAY more impressed by getting to see the images of the break than they should have been.  The mechanic looked slight sick, but still really impressed.

 

“That looks bad.  Are you going to have to amputate?”

 

Amelia snorted.  “No!  But this would be a hell of a lot easier if you were sedated.  I don’t suppose you have a drug problem we could use to our advantage?”

 

“No!”

 

“Look, what’s your name?  Are you just saying that because your boss is here?”

 

“No! Honestly, I don’t use drugs.” He paused, “And my name is Zvi.”

 

“What species are you, Zvi?”

 

“I’m Xandarian!”

 

“Zvi, do you have any money you would be willing to spend on drugs?”

 

“Um… to fix my arm?  Yeah!”

 

Amelia looked up sedation in her book and wandered over to the intercom.  She pushed announce, and before anyone could stop her she said, “This is your medic speaking.  I need 3 units of quadacydine.  No questions asked, other than it needs to be able to pass the mass spectrometer test.  I have a patient willing to pay three times the street value and you would, as an added bonus, have a medic who:

  1. knows who you are and 
  2. knows you to be helpful.



This is an extremely limited time offer. First person to get here, with reasonably good quadacydine wins!  Yay!”

 

She released the intercom button.

 

They were all staring at her.

 

“Yay?” Tullk asked.

 

Amelia gave him a one shoulder shrug.

 

Czar said, “Yondu isn’t going to be happy you just invited the crew to come and get you.”

 

Amelia just looked tired.  “I am, sadly, out of fucks to give at this point.”

 

Winch went out into the hallway and bellowed.  “Form a Fucking Line!”

 

The first guy turned up with a bag of baking soda.

 

The second guy had quadacydine, but it had been laced with arsenic, so Amelia declined.

 

The third guy was named Knix and he was the winner.  Amelia wasn’t sure what he was doing with quadacydine, since it didn’t work on Achernonians, but she had promised no questions.

 

Winch bellowed for everyone to get back to work, and amazingly enough, they did.  Or at least got out of the hallway.  Zvi transferred payment to Knix who wanted to stay and watch, until Czar started standing way too close and whispered something Amelia didn’t hear.  At that point he fled.

 

Amelia carefully mixed a suspension of the drug and added it to the-not-a saline-drip, but device that acted as one. Once Zvi was sounding drunk, she announced she needed a couple of volunteers-

 

Everyone tensed.

 

-to hold the medical imaging device and the medscanner.

 

Everyone wanted to hold the imager.  It was like asking a group of 8 year old girls 'Who wants to pet the pony?'

 

Tullk called rank because Yondu had put him in charge.

 

A couple more people from the kid’s department turned up to see what was going on. 

 

Amelia reduced the fracture then spent some time making sure she was happy with how straight the break was before she injected one unit of BoneMend into the break.  It wasn't as smooth as the how to video made it look, but it wasn’t that hard either.

 

“Winch, he’s going to need a couple of days off.  Can you make sure he takes them?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Zvi was starting to wake up within a few minutes of Amelia finishing.

 

“Hey!  My arm is straight!”

 

“Yes, but you will have to be careful with it for a few days.  Maybe even six or seven.  We’ll have to rescan it in two or three days to make sure it is still in good position.”

 

Amelia made him wait until his response time was good enough that she thought he had a fighting chance of not falling down the stairs and then sent him off with Winch.  Then she turned to the men who had brought her to the med bay.

 

“There isn’t actually anything I can do for my arm.  So...  do I go back to Yondu or what happens now?”

 

They all stared at her.

 

Oblo said, “But you fixed the kid’s arm…”

 

“Yeah.  I had most of the stuff for that.  We aren’t stocked to fix bruising, so unless Peter has a secret stash of _Advil_ kicking around there really isn’t anything I can do.”

 

“What’s _Advil_?” Peter asked.

 

“Non narcotic pain relief.  For achy muscles, head aches, that sort of thing.”

 

“Yeah.  I might have something.”

 

They took her back to the bridge.  There was no sign of Yondu.  Peter went to the Milano.  He was back 20 minutes later.  Amelia was sitting in the corner, reading.  Peter handed her the pain patch.  She looked at it.  He peeled it off the backing and stuck it to the inside of her arm. She winced as he pressed it in place.  

 

“It will take a few minutes to kick in, but should last the full thirty hour day.”

 

“Thank you, Peter.”

 

“You’re welcome.”

 

Yondu blustered in.  “You got your arm fixed up?”

 

“Not much I can do for it, I’m afraid.  Peter got me some pain relief, but that’s about it.”

 

He humphed and said, “If you can source quadacydine, you can find something better than that.”

 

“We’ll see.”

 

Yondu glared at Peter until he left. Then he crouched down and whispered, “ _No more fighting monsters without me.”_

 

_"I can't promise that, Yondu."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in one day? What? Sadly, that likely means none tomorrow. 
> 
> At this point I would invite you to subscribe to the series in case of stand alone smu- um, stories. I meant stories. 
> 
> I need a better name for this series. I'll take suggestions in the comments.
> 
> Feed the muse. Kudos are nice. So are comments


	22. Fall Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Now with EXTRA feels!

 

Amelia sat in the corner watching the action.  And there was a flurry of action. 

 

Everyone who came on and off of the bridge stopped to stare at her.  There were whispered conversations with weighty glances in her direction.  Amelia concentrated on what Tullk had said, ‘He was breaking the rules of the ship.’

 

The thing that was worrying her is that the people in the dining room thought it was - she was -  that his death was justified.  BUT.  She still had to walk the halls with Tazerface’s friends. 

 

She tried to keep her head down and pay attention to her reading.  It was hard. People usually shouted on the bridge, now they whispered.   She looked at the clock. There was still hours until supper. She really wished she had someplace else to be. 

 

About the time she was ready to start screaming due to to tension in the room, Yondu called her over and asked about the gear in the medical bay.   She was able to pull up the wish list of missing items and handed it over.  She was prepared to just go sit down when Yondu asked about the drug cupboard and what needed to be stocked. She felt like an idiot because she had to keep looking up the answers.  By the time he was done, with a collection of senior personnel watching she felt like they should just ditch her and hire Dr Google. 

 

None of them asked her anything about lunch. When it was time for dinner, Yondu and associates formed an honour guard around her and walked her to the cafeteria.  Once they got there, Amelia was faced with the most contrived seating arrangement she had seen outside of a wedding. Kraglin was sitting at a table waiting for her group and every other table featured a department head and a collection of his staff. Winch was there with Zvi grinning like an idiot and trying to wave subtly. Amelia gave him a shy half smile as she sat down.  Winch frowned. She stopped. 

 

The food was brought out. She had never seen that before. Krss himself placed the plate in front of her. He startled when she said thank you.  It was strips of grilled meat on a bed of greens. 

 

 Amelia thought of something and leaned over to ask Yondu, ” _This isn't like Stranger in a Strange Land where you ritually eat your dead, is it?_ "

 

Someone at the pilots table started cough and she looked over to see Peter, red faced and trying not to laugh. 

 

Yondu frowned.  "No."

 

Tullk leaned across the table. "What was it you wanted, doc?"

 

Amelia shook her head. "It's fine. I'm just not sure how to handle a formal dinner here."

 

"Just eat." Yondu said. 

 

“Don’t worry so much.” said Tullk. 

 

Amelia ate her dinner. Eventually, small talk sprang up at the other tables.  The tension pouring off of Yondu was almost palpable.   Half way through her dinner, she set down her fork, folded her hands in her lap and just took a moment for an internal pep talk.  Czar, who was sitting next to her, slid over a fraction of an inch so his thigh was touching hers.  She shifted in her seat and leaned against him for a moment. 

 

Then Yondu covered her hands in his and she felt some of the tension leave them both. She caught Oblo and Kraglin smirking.

 

After dinner, the junior crew members left, including Peter.

 

Yondu stood up to address the remaining officers and department heads.  “We need a medic.  She ain’t used to treating non-Terrans, but she ain’t squeamish about it neither.  Thing is, this only works if she don’t get dead when some idiot decides to show boat in the lunch room.  She ain’t Quill.  She ain’t getting any bigger.  You want someone to keep your men alive, we gotta make sure she stays that way too.”

 

“Why the cull?” Amelia couldn’t see who said that, but there was a general nodding.

 

“Some of these boys ain’t got the brains to know that they will need a medic at some point.  Like the idjits that don’t do engine maintenance on their fighters.  Or forget to restock the space suits after they use ‘em.  We want a medic, we have to act that way.”

 

Someone else said, “Tazerface is no loss, but he had friends.  We gonna have to deal with them, or they will come gunning for her.”

 

Winch stood up.  “There are four on my crews, at least, who will need to go.  Maybe two more, if they don’t get the hint.  I like Zvi.  He is a hard worker.  He is a quick learner.  Girl saved his arm.”

 

Amelia stopped herself from pointing out the break would have just healed badly.  It wasn't like his hand was going to fall off.  She wasn’t sure this was the time to bring that up.  She was surprised that they all just named names of who they thought ‘needed to go.’  Occasionally, one department would say they had a problem with a person and another department would offer to try to take them instead.

 

In the end, there were about twenty names.  Amelia was afraid to ask of this was the senior staff planning a mass murder.  That was when Oblo broke out the star charts and started looking at places they could stop to restock the med bay.  Amelia leaned over and asked Czar if they would be leaving the unwanted crew there.  Everyone stopped talking and looked at her.

 

“Some of them.” Winch rumbled.  “Some will have accidents so they can learn the benefits of having a medic.  Some will just… go missing.  We have people on this ship who are would be a threat to the local population if we just turned them loose.”

 

Someone snorted.

 

Winch continued, as if he didn't notice, ”- beyond the abilities of local authorities to contain them.  Some have death warrants issued.  It would be wasteful not to collect if we no longer require their services.”

 

Amelia considered this.

 

A lizard man in the back growled, “Yondu, I think your medic is too soft for this conversation.”

 

Before Yondu even had a chance to respond, Amelia turned on the man, “A medic has to be soft.  If I didn’t care if people died, I wouldn’t try very hard to keep any of you alive.   I have to treat all of my patients, regardless of my personal feelings about you.  Just like you have to trust Krss not to poison you and you have to trust Winch to not rig your ship to explode, you need to trust the medic not to be plotting your death.”

 

Yondu gave a satisfied smirk. The rest of the room looked thoughtful.

 

Yondu changed the subject by bringing up restocking the med bay.  Well, planning a raid on a medical facility to restock.  Amelia didn't want to be there for that part either, but Yondu kept asking her questions.  The same questions he had asked on the bridge.  She realized he had been giving her the cheat codes for the exam, because this time, in front of an audience, she knew the answers.

 

Eventually, they finished and the party broke up.  Yondu and Kraglin walked her back to Yondu’s room.  They weren’t travelling as a pack, but the others were… around, either a head or behind. 

 

Once the door to his room was sealed.  Yondu pulled Amelia in tight for a hug and ran his hand over her hair.  “You did good today.”

 

Amelia hugged him back.

 

“I wanna have a look at that arm.”

 

Amelia took a step back, “Not much to look at.  It’s a bruise.  A nasty deep bruise worthy of the name _hematoma_ but no broken bone, no compromised nerves.  It hurts.  It is going to hurt for a while.  It is going to look gross for even longer.  Nothing I can do to help that.”  She looked up.  

 

Yondu wasn’t watching her arm.

 

Amelia took one look at his face and blushed and looked down.  “I can’t.  I want… to be able to, but I … I can’t.”

 

“You just tell me when I need to stop.” Yondu said quietly.  He just stood there for a moment.  “You need me to stop now?”

 

Amelia smiled a little.  “Not yet.”

 

He stood perfectly still for another moment.  “How about now?”

 

She giggled.  “I’m OK.”

 

Moving very, very slowly, he put his hands on her waist.  “Now?”

 

She coiled her arms around his neck and stood up on her tip toes and gently kissed his lips.  Yondu pulled her closer and escalated things, kissing her harder.  She kissed him back for a moment then started to pull away.

 

 He dropped his hands from her waist and back immediately, watching her carefully.

 

She growled in frustration and covered her face with her hands.

 

He pulled her back into a hug.  “I can wait.”

 

That was when the whole day came crashing down on her and she started to cry.  It was a sobbing, ugly cry.  As Yondu held her tight, ignoring the tears soaking his shirt, rubbing her back, making comforting noises, Amelia realized that the one place on the ship where she could just let go and weep, was safe in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Too sappy?
> 
> Keep the comments coming.


	23. Not Any More

Yondu woke when the girl bolted from bed, scrambled to the far corner of the room and started pacing like a wild animal, wide eyed, but unseeing. She was babbling in a language he didn't understand, but it was obvious that she was upset. 

 

"Amelia?  You ok, hon?" He got out of bed and tried to be non threatening as he walked towards her. "Amelia?"

 

 _"That's not my name!"_ she shrieked, dropped to the floor, curled into a ball with her hands covering her face. She sat there, rocking herself and crying quietly. 

 

Yondu sighed and turned up the lights.  The he knelt down a little ways away from her and asked softly, " _Do you know where you are?"_

 

She shook her head, no. 

 

" _Ok_."  Fuck.  That had to have been easier for Stakar. At least when Yondu lost track, he had come up fighting and had a frame of reference for what was going on. 'It's ok, you've been rescued by Ravagers' sounded better that 'It's ok, you've been bought by space pirates.'

 

He went with, " _Give it a minute. It will come back."_ He tried to be patient while waiting. 

 

 _"Yondu?"_   It was a question, at least it was a step in the right direction. 

 

" _Yeah. You back with me?"_

 

_"Did I kill someone?"_

 

_"Nah. More like he hugged you while you were holding a big knife. I'm pretty sure Tullk actually killed him."_

 

"I'm sorry I woke you up."

 

"It's ok. I weren't doing anything important."  He watched he for a moment.  "You ready to come back to bed?"

 

"I need a minute before I can stand up."

 

"Ok. Would you let me carry you?"  He watched as she closed her eyes and thought about that. 

 

Nod. 

 

He scooped her up. She clung to him like a limpet.  He sat on the bed with her in his lap and rubbed her back. 

 

She turned her head and kissed him. He kissed her back for a moment. The pulled away. 

 

"Not the best time for that.  I don't wanna do anything you'll regret.  Some time when you haven't just woken up not knowing who I am."

 

Amelia shivered and let him tuck her back into bed. 

 

\----

 

As soon as Amelia was asleep, Yondu snuck out of bed, being careful not to wake her. He got dressed and called Kraglin to sit with her until she woke.  Then he went to his office and watched the surveillance vids of the incident. 

 

"Get me Tullk."

 

Yondu had eight minutes on loop when Tullk came in.  Amelia screaming. Tullk hugging her so her face was buried in his chest.  Tullk shooting Tazerface. Tullk holding Amelia until Yondu got there. Tullk covering Amelia's mouth when people started talking. Then it started again. 

 

Tullk watched it run through and start again.  Yondu still still hadn't said anything.  Hadn't even turned to acknowledge Tullk's presence. 

 

"I didn't want her watching when the blaster took off his head. I didn't want the image of the knife sticking out of his chest to be stuck in her head any longer the necessary. And I really didn't want her saying the wrong thing while you were questioning the witnesses."

 

"Did she struggle?"

 

"What? No boss!  You sent her with me before. We do ok. She calls me Bad Wolf after that story Pete told us."

 

"You wanna fuck her?"

 

"She's yours, boss!  I wouldn't!"

 

"Ain't what I asked."

 

"Yeah. But I ain't gonna.  I can keep it in my pants."

 

Yondu frowned. 

 

"You're right. We need a medic. That doesn't change that she's the only obvious piece of tail on the ship and she smells fucking amazing.  Thing is, anyone worth keeping is going to prioritize health care of a quick tumble that will end with your arrow through his head."

 

"You teach her how to lift the knife?"

 

"No, boss. I don't know where she learned that."

 

Yondu nodded. "Get out."

 

Tullk fled. 

 

\----

 

Amelia woke to find Kraglin reading a tech journal in one of the chairs in Yondu's room. 

 

She groaned a little and sat up. "What time is it?"

 

"Almost ten. Yondu said to let you sleep.  How you feeling?"

 

"About like the worst hangover I've ever had with bonus arm pain." She hesitated as Kraglin turned to look at her. "You look exhausted."

 

"Late night."

 

"We lose anyone last night?"

 

"Three. I don't think you knew any of them."

 

"Are you in charge of me today?" 

 

"For now."

 

“Ok.  What’s on the to do list?”

 

“Nothing.  You’re staying in here today.”

 

Amelia considered this.  She was fully stocked for socks but only half way through the sweater, plus Peter had gotten the iPod to work without recharging.  “I could live with that for a day.  Are you going to be bored?”

 

“I got stuff I can work on.”

 

“What are you reading?”

 

“Specs on a new line of proximity detectors.”

 

“Huh.  Breakfast?”

 

Kraglin tossed her a protein bar.  “Someone will bring lunch.  You’re banned from the dinning hall for now.”

 

“I’m sorry I’m making so many problems.”

 

“Not your fault Yondu has plans.”

 

Krss turned up with a plate of sandwiches and a message that Amelia was needed in the med bay.  They ate while they walked, the sounds of shouting in the distance.  There were four people waiting for her when she and Kraglin got there.

 

Amelia started to triage, but another couple of people turned up and she realize she was getting it wrong.  She took the two with the easiest wounds to clean and explained what she was doing as she irrigated and bandaged them up.  She explained how to tell if a wounded needed stitches or butterfly bandages and why she was using the antibiotic ointment.  She also explained how to tell if a bandage was too tight.  Then she sent the two she had just trained up to go clean the wounds of anyone with minor injuries.  She had them send her the ones who needed more advanced care.

 

Amelia spent so much time sewing she thought about hanging her shingle as a seamstress, then laughed to herself as the Discworld connotations of that came to mind.

 

When the burns started to come in, she flagged down the five helpers she currently had and did a tutorial on how to use the anesthetic spray before trying to clean a burn wound.  She explained about active nerve endings and how this was not something to try with out it.  She also got to explain the difference between burn degrees and that the helpers were only allowed to help with minor burns that did not completely encircle a limb.

 

Twenty minutes later the smell of cooked flesh was started to fill the room.  Everyone who could kept working.  Some of her helpers couldn't do it any more and left when they thought she wouldn't notice.  She didn't say anything.  Not everyone was cut out for this.  

 

Amelia looked hard at the one they carried in, screaming, with third degree burns to more than 50% of his body.  She looked around at the resources she had. She looked up his species in her encyclopedia.  Fuck.  There was only one thing she could do.  He was given a "pain med" injection directly into his heart.  He stopped screaming.  The crew stared at her.

 

She took a shaky breath.  "We help in what ever way we can.  Now, get back to work or get out."

 

She spent the afternoon suturing, using up the last of the BoneMend and cleaning and bandaging burns.  By the end of the day the meager stock of medical supplies was effectively depleted as was al first aid kits people had managed to round up. 

 

“That’s it!” Amelia announced.  “From here on in, I can use the scanners to figure out what is wrong with people, but there is not a damn thing I can do to fix them”

 

Kraglin took her back to Yondu’s room.

 

Peter brought a plate of food and a message that Yondu wanted Kraglin on the bridge.

 

“What’s going on out there?”

 

“Yondu spent the day putting down a mutiny.  He was ahead of it from the get go, so it didn’t really pick up momentum.  Plus the dinner last night had the department heads all ready and on his side.  Most of ‘em don’t believe he spent the last ten years looking to buy a medic.  But your here and they trust him.  We’ll be landing for restock the day after tomorrow.  In the mean time, Yondu is getting first aid kits off of people to help with whatever comes up between now and then.”

 

Amelia didn’t know what to say about that, so she went with, “You have a new jacket.”

 

“I got a promotion.  I’m going to be a squadron leader.  Well, probational squadron leader, for now.  We are landing on Kallu.  Yondu’s gonna have to buy you some better clothes.  That place is a giant snowball."

 

Peter looked at her for a long moment before asking, "what's the deal with you two anyway?"

 

"You'll have to ask him."

 

"Yeah. That's not going to happen. When we picked you up, he had me buy you a big bag full of sexy underwear. They are still on The Milano, so I know he hasn't given them to you yet."

 

"Huh. What kind of sexy underwear?"

 

"Matching bra and panty sets mostly. A few other things."

 

"And all this time I thought those were yours."

 

Peter sputtered, "What?! Why would you think that?"

 

"Well, they went with the porn you had in your kitchen the first time I was on your ship."  Amelia gave Quill a long look.  "The mutiny... was that because of me?"

 

Peter shrugged, "There's a lot going on with the crew.  I'm not going to lie, you were part of it, but there's more to it than that. Hell, my being here is part of it and I've been around for more than 20 years.  Yondu isn't good at delegating.   Since you've been here, he's been working on that. For most of the crew it's been good to start seeing us as a team. For others, they've seen it as an opportunity to make a power play."

 

Amelia nodded. 

 

Peter watched her for a moment before adding.  "We aren't the good guys. We are thieves and outlaws and mercenaries. But Yondu's got some principles. We do not traffic people or slaves. Some of the crew is always unhappy about that, but he has been unwavering the whole time I've known him.  He will run recreational non addictive or low addictive drugs, but not the really nasty stuff that becomes a life long problem the first time you use it. He's picky about the clients we take and the places we stop. He had a reputation for being a hard nosed son of a bitch. And he has no problems killing if it needs to be done. 

 

"But, there are outfits out there that hook their crew on designer drugs that mean if they leave they die from nasty withdrawal because the chemistry is proprietary to the Captain.  Yondu has never done that. Any slaves we pick accidentally, get dumped first time see see Nova Corp.-"

 

"What's Nova Corp?"

 

"Space police. And-"

 

"What do the space police do with the slaves?  Do they just give them back to the owners?"

 

"No. They go to Xandar and get citizenship papers."

 

"So, if Yondu doesn't deal in slaves, why'd he buy me?"

 

"No one knows.  The speculation is all over the place."

 

"You were telling me that you are the bad guys but not the worst guys."

 

"We are morally better that a lot of planet wide governments out there.  But you were still safer on _Earth_."

 

Amelia shook her head. "Not any more."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always appreciated.
> 
> Short delay was due to my re-reading the details of the mutiny and deciding that it was a lot more bloody and confusing that I wanted it to be. I expect the next thing I post will be to Alone. But we are getting close to the place where this story will converge with that one.
> 
> It takes place after Kallu, if you are interested.
> 
> Anyway. I've had a tough couple of days and your comments in my inbox are great to read. I don't always reply, but I love every single one that I receive.


	24. Extreme Team Building Exercises

 

Amelia didn't see Yondu at all that day.   Peter was surprised when Tullk turned up late that night. 

 

"Boss says I'm to sit with her until he gets back."

 

Amelia frowned. "That's new."

 

Tullk shrugged.  "He's in a snit."

 

Peter looked at the two of them. "Need me to stay?"

 

Tullk looked at Amelia. "Do you need him to stay?"

 

She shook her head. Peter left. Tullk took one of the chairs and went to sit by the door. 

 

"You should tuck in. He's going to be a while."

 

"This feels like a test."

 

"Good girl!  But it's me he's testing. Yours was how many people could you treat this afternoon."

 

"Did I pass?"

 

"Everyone you saw left happy, so I would think so."

 

"Can you tell me what's going on out there?"

 

Tullk hesitated. "Nothing to worry about. The boss is just cleaning house."

 

Amelia frowned again. "There were a lot of people with burns today."

 

"There were a few blaster fire accidents"

 

——

 

Yondu faced what was left of his crew.  They had rallied in the launch bay.  There was a pile of bodies and Kraglin and Czar were busy scanning eyeballs and cutting off the thumbs.

 

“I like to think I’m a fair man.  I gave everyone a chance to leave.  I didn’t start this, but I finished it.  And I expect it to be finished now.  I know some of you lost friends here. Anyone else gots any ideas, you leave at Kallu.  Those of you that are left, well, all the dead’s shares and what ever rewards we collect on ‘em and whatever they own will be divided between the crew.  Then I need to you talk to the senior staff.  How many of these do we really need to replace?  Can y’all work harder and split the take between those of us are left or do we need more people eating our pie?”

 

“She worth it Boss?”

 

“This ain’t about her.  She does what she’s told.  She turn on me, I put an arrow through her head same as anyone.  This was people getting ideas above their pay grade.  We are Ravagers.  Time was that meant som’ing.  Meant we was family.  Only family some of us ever knew.  

 

“Then that ended… and that was on me.  I’ll own it.  But it has gone on long enough.  Fuck the other 99 Ravager Clans!  We are still here!  The Clan that went it alone and refused to die!    I aint saying it was always easy, but, fuck, we are still here.  Still standing proud!  I known some of you thirty years.  Hell!  Andrei!  We go back further than that! I known some of you six months.  Zvi!  Welcome to the team, boy!  Glad to have you!  I woulda lost an ear to Brahl if it weren’t for you!  I have fought with you all and I know you deserve better.  We all deserve better.  So.  Time to start doing better.

 

“No more cannon fodder to hide behind.  We spent the day guarding each other’s backs.  We keep doing that.  From now on, you guard each other.  We guard each other.  You have a problem with me, you talk to me about it before it gets to the point where someone needs to be dead.  I’ll do the same.  Don’t mean I’m going soft.  Means I found a team I wanna keep.”

 

There was a ragged cheer from the survivors

 

Yondu organized the officers to run patrols over night and got the kitchen crew to put together a lunch before sending everyone back to their bunks for the night.  If they didn’t  replace too many of the lost crew, there would be only two or three people in a bunk room in the barracks instead of the four they started with.  It would mean those who were left would have to work harder, but he recognized many of the dead as self entitled problem crew members.  Having them gone might actually be less work for the crew in some cases.

 

He remembered Amelia talking about the eight man mutiny.  Eight out of forty six was a smaller percentage of bad crew than he had just dealt with.  He was down a more than a quarter.  And she was right about the other thing.  Some of the dead weren’t bad guys.  They was just too stupid to understand what was going on.

 

He needed a drink.  And someone to fuck.  But there was still so much to do. 

 

——

 

Yondu let himself into his room about the time exhaustion meant he could no longer focus his eyes.  Tullk was sitting at the table.  He put his blaster down as soon as he saw it was Yondu.  Then he put his finger to his lips and pointed at Amelia asleep in the other chair.

 

“Why ain’t she in bed?” Yondu whispered.

 

“She wanted to wait up for you, Boss.”

 

Yondu considered this.  He was barely keeping hisself upright, he weren’t going to be able to carry her to bed.  He glared at Tullk, who looked less exhausted than Yondu felt.  “Put her in bed for me, will ya?”

 

Tullk nodded.  He picked up the sleeping girl and carried her to the bed.  He lay her down and got her shoes and pants off.  Then he folded them and set them set them aside.  Then he helped Yondu out of his regalia and got the man tucked up beside her. Yondu could bitch him out for his impropriety in the morning.

 

Tullk turned out the lights, went back to sit at the table and guarded the door.  His eyes glittered in the darkness.

 

—- 

 

Amelia almost woke as she was carried to bed.  She would have been more upset about someone pulling off her pants, but the bed smelled like Yondu who smells like safe.  Moments later, he spooned her up and ran his hand over her belly.

 

——

 

Tullk sat perfectly still in the absolute darkness as Kraglin came in.  The man made his way to the bed from memory before striping and climbing in.  That was… not totally unexpected.  It did make things more interesting, though.  Tullk had the best night vision on the boat and he knew Kraglin hadn’t seen him.

 

That didn't mean he was willing to leave the sleeping trio to guard themselves.  It would just mean he had to talk a little faster in the morning when Yondu woke up.

 

—-

 

Amelia woke first.  She had slept first so it was only fair.  She squirmed her way past a sleeping Yondu and over a sleeping Kraglin.  Huh.  First time she remembered Yondu being the filling in the sandwich.

 

Then she fell out of bed. Crap on a cracker!  Which way was the bathroom?  She tried to reorientate herself by feeling about for a landmark she recognized.  It wasn't really working for her.

 

Then the lights came up. Just a little.  Tullk held a finger to his lips, nodded at the bed and helped her to her feet.  She smiled and mouthed ‘thank you’ then walked quietly to the toilet.

 

Afterwards, she came over to talk to him, but he leaned in close and whispered.  “Go back to sleep.  I am not leaving you all undefended.”

 

Amelia nodded and crawled back in to bed, making Kraglin the middle spoon this time.

 

—-

 

A couple of hours later, Amelia woke again.  This time she used the vid screen to check the hallways for intruders before pulling a blaster from Kraglin’s discarded pants and check the cartridge for charges.  She leans in close and whispers to Tullk.  “I got this.  You go sleep.  It will be easier on everyone if you aren’t here when they wake.”

 

Tullk shakes his head.  “My job was specifically to guard you until Yondu was able to take over.  He's not able to take over yet.”

 

Amelia considered this.  She set the blaster on the table and got out her book.

 

—-

 

It’s almost lunch when Krss calls Yondu.  Amelia gets to his hand-held abandoned in his coat as he goes from unconscious to angry in 3.5 seconds.  “Hi Krss. I’ll get him to call you back in a minute, he’s just in the head.”

 

Yondu pushes Kraglin onto the floor and grabs for the phone.  Then he spots Tullk, who is carefully watching the door.  “What are you doing here?”

 

“I am guarding Amelia until you, personally, come to relieve me.  As per your direct order, sir.”

 

“Well?  I’m here, ain’t I?”

 

“That isn’t the same thing as being relieved, boss, and you know it.” Tullk said keeping his eyes on the door.  He hesitated, then gave his boss an out.  “I understand having Kraglin come in here was a test to see if I would leave, but he wasn’t taking over as guard and he isn’t you, personally, relieving me, so I stayed.”

 

Yondu looked at him and at Amelia watching the whole thing.  “Get out.  You are fucking relieved.”

 

Tullk stood, checked the hallway on the vid screen and left.  He kept his eyes front the whole time.


	25. Girlie Drinks

 

After Tullk left Kraglin and Yondu shared a look.  Amelia gave an exasperated sigh.  “You two are both idiots.  You said it wasn’t that big of a deal and now you are all worried.  I’m pretty sure the owner of the brothel said you like to share.  If Tullk starts talking about this, which I don’t think he will, and if the crew starts making comments, which I don’t think they will, all you have to do is say it was a three way.”

 

Suddenly, she had their full attention.  Yondu was the one who asked, “How do you feel about that?”

 

Amelia looked away.  “How do I feel about the crew thinking I’m fucking you both?  I’m sure they already do.  It isn’t like I have to worry about my reputation here.”  She swallowed for a moment.  “If you are asking how I feel about double penetration, well, my one experience with that wasn’t exactly my idea and I’m really not volunteering for a repeat performance.”

 

Yondu hugged her close and rubbed her back.  Kraglin found his pants.  Amelia said, “You need to call Krss.”

 

—-

 

They had completely missed breakfast.  Lunch was tense.  Andrei requested her assistance with clean up.

 

Yondu hesitated.  “There’s gonna be some blood to mop up.  Think you can handle that?”

 

He got a stereo snort of disbelief from Amelia and Kraglin.  “I think I’ll manage somehow.” Amelia reassured him as Kraglin coughed and tried desperately to not laugh.

 

“I missing som’ing?”

 

“Yes, sir!” said Kraglin, “Someday, sir, you gotta watch this girl run an emergency.  She was fucking amazing.”  

 

Kraglin was a little excited and a little louder than usual.  Yondu watched as a higher number of crew than he would have expected nodded in agreement.

 

Yondu announced, “Well, don’t anyone get to thinking we need to have a repeat of yesterday just so that I have the honour.”

 

There were a few chuckles at that, as well as a few ‘What?’s from the slower crew.

 

Everyone available was on clean up.  Yondu had announced that they weren’t even going to try to put down in Kallu until the ship could pass customs inspection.  Given that wine, women and song (or drugs, dancing and doxies, if you prefer) were waiting on the surface, the crew was sufficiently motivated to get the job done.

 

Yondu was surprised, although maybe he shouldn’t have been, when Peter cornered him and asked to take Amelia dancing when they landed.  He was so unprepared for the question, his response was, “No!” followed by, “What the hell are you blathering on about?”

 

“C’mon, Yondu!  Dancing!  It’s a Terran thing.  This might be our only chance to go for months!  Look, just… consider it.  Please?”

 

Yondu was about to tell the kid to fuck off when he caught his first mate’s eye.  Amelia had been on her last ever trip to Earth, was faced with a band of criminals and had asked for two things.  Birth control.  Horrible, horrible, sphincter clenching, primitive, incompressible birth control.  And music.

 

“Yeah, alright.  We’ll go dancing.”

 

Peter was immediately elated, but this quickly diminished with the word ‘we.’  Yondu saw it on Pete’s face and gave him a shit eating grin.

 

The next morning, Amelia was on the third landing party with Dave, Winch, Czar and Tullk. It wasn't lost on her that she was traveling with the most physically intimidating members of the crew.  They went straight to the market and found someone who knew someone who could sell them medical supplies.  

 

Amelia gave him the list and inspected the product.  She had to argue over the quality of the suture sets and insist on brand name BoneMend, because the knock off was linked to early onset osteoporosis.  She also told him she would have to think about stocking her pharmacy from him.  She has some concerns about the labelling on his meds.

 

Tullk did the negotiating.  They left with orders for several pallets of medical supplies to be delivered.  After the price was agreed upon, Winch had Amelia show him EXACTLY which products they would be getting and made a point of telling the seller he would personally be inspecting the delivery before it was loaded onto the shuttles.

 

The dealer looked a little uncomfortable about that. 

 

Once they were well out of earshot, Amelia asked, “He wasn't actually planning to deliver what we ordered, was he?”

 

Tullk snickered, “He is now.”

 

Amelia asked, “Is there a way to buy the stock for the pharmacy from a real pharmacy?  I don’t want to have to check each bottle for contamination.”

 

That took some time.  She had to do some fast talking at the local medical centre.  In the end, she found a doctor who, after an hour of questioning and a bribe from Tullk had written her a prescription for the whole thing.  From there it was a matter of finding a pharmacy who would fill it and give them bulk pricing.  

 

The pharmacist was actually fairly helpful, suggesting that what she really needed, for a crew that size, was a portable drug synthesizer.  He put her in touch with the licensing body who issued them and talked her through how to write the certification exam.  They left with a drug safe full of meds (free gift with large purchase) and shuttled back to The Eclector.

 

Amelia was just watching Winch ChemWeld it in place in the med bay when Yondu turned up.  “How was it?” He asked Tullk.

 

“Not as bad as we thought, boss.  Your girl called the vender on selling inferior product and negotiated bulk pricing on the good stuff.”

 

Amelia turned to them.  “Well, I wasn’t buying anything that could be turned into street drugs.  I worked really hard to ensure that when I made my shopping list.”

 

They looked at her.  “Why would you do that?”

 

“The same reason you lock up your beer.”

 

“We’re Ravengers.” Czar rumbled.  “We steal from everyone, but-“ here everyone joined in “- not from each other.”

 

Amelia looked skeptical. 

 

Yondu sighed. “I gotta  get Andrei back teaching the Ravenger Code in the evening. He was doing that when I signed up.  Speaking of which, I need you back in the loading docks, girl.  We gotta go find a tailor and get you a uniform.”

 

Amelia groaned.  “Can it wait?  Two shuttle trips in one day is my limit.”

 

“Suck it up, buttercup.  Time to work.”

 

Amelia considered this.  “Is there room for negotiation on that one, sir?”

 

Yondu frozen his tracks. She had never called him sir before.  “What did you have in mind?”

 

Tullk looked at Czar and wiggled his eyebrows.

 

“Captain, I have been repeatedly instructed to remind you to feed me and it has been a very long time since breakfast-“

 

“We’ll eat on the surface.  Don’t want you sick in the shuttle.”  He kept walking.

 

“Damn it.”

 

Yondu smirked, “Good try, though.”

 

If Yondu was on a ship, he was flying the damn thing.  But he would grudgingly allow Dave to co-pilot.  Dave had an unfair biological advantage and as much as Yondu hated to admit it, he was the better pilot.  The boys strapped Amelia in between Czar and Tullk.  Winch was not coming back with them, which meant Kraglin had the whole other bench to himself.  Yondu looked at all of this. Kraglin just shrugged.

 

Amelia ended up folding forward with her head between her knees, again, with Tullk rubbing her back, again, trying not to be sick.  She hated to admit that Yondu was right, but she was glad she wasn’t making this trip on a full stomach.

 

As soon as they were docked, Yondu was out of his seat and ready to unbuckle Amelia.

 

“Just, give’r a moment, boss.”  Tullk said.

 

“Stand her up too quick, she ends up on the floor.” said Czar.

 

“Wow, you boys suck at the whole patient confidentiality thing.”

 

“They aren’t the medic.” Yondu said.

 

Eventually, Amelia stopped shaking and was able to get to her feet. “Ok.  If anyone forgot anything on the ship, you can just leave me here while you go and get it.  This back and forth thing is not for me.”

 

Yondu took the crew to a bar and got Amelia a girlie drink and roast avian quarter for lunch.  The rest of them had a variation on the idea of a beer and burger. 

 

Amelia stared at her drink. 

 

"Something wrong?" Yondu asked. 

 

"The drink just changed colour."

 

"Yeah?  Bartender says it's the sorta thing girls like."

 

"But it just changed colour and it's flashing."

 

"So?"

 

"It keeps changing colours."

 

Tullk started laughing. 

 

Amelia turned to face him. "I dare you to try it."

 

Kraglin, Dave and Czar snickered. Tullk looked at the drink. 

 

"It... is kinda ... odd looking."

 

"Oh for fucks sake!"  Yondu grabbed the drink, took a swig and promptly looked ill.  "It's like drinking straight sugar."

 

Tullk slid his beer towards Amelia. 

 

She cautiously took a sip of the beer, then wrapped her hands around the glass that subtly said, I will fight you if you try to take this from me.

 

Then Yondu flagged down the waitress and asked to trade the colour change drink for a beer. 

 

"Is something wrong?" the woman asked. 

 

"It's against my religion to drink things that change colour."

 

"It tastes like shit. I only dint spit on your floor 'cause the girl don't approve.”

 

“You asked for a girlie drink!”

 

Amelia considered this.  “I think it was a hazing ritual that didn’t go according to plan.”

 

“What?!” demanded Yondu.  “We don’t do that shit!”

 

“Much.” said Kraglin.

 

“Can I get a beer?” asked Tullk.

 

Dave reached across the table and cautious took a sip of the currently purple drink.  “Tastes like zak fruit.”

 

“The flavour changes with the colour.” said the waitress.

 

“ _Witchcraft_!” Amelia joked.

 

Yondu just looked at her.  “You are strange.”

 

Amelia grinned, “Yeah, but I’m your strange.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Terry Pratchett - The Hogfather:  
> "Son, never drink any drink with a paper umbrella in it, never drink any drink with a humourous name and never drink any drink that changes colour when the last ingredient goes in."


	26. Sharing

It turned out that Dave was a cautious drinker of girlie drinks.  He tried all the flavours of the drink as they presented themselves.  Once it cycled back to purple he gave it to the waitress to toss the rest.  

 

Amelia ate her avian.  Tullk stole one of the vegetables off her plate. Czar pushed his plate closer to her and she helped herself to one of his roast veg.  Yondu watched as his crew just treated the whole meal as communal.  That was new.  He had personally witnessed Czar stab a man through the hand for raiding his fries in the past.

 

He leaned back in his chair and asked, “I miss a staff meeting the morning or something?”

 

The boys were suddenly concentrating on their own plates. Amelia looked up from hers and answered, “Culturally, Terras shared food as a community building exercise.  Czar was shocked when I offered him part of my muffin this morning and I got to explain that sharing was a way of indicating at least a low level of commitment to the other person’s well being.”  She slid her plate towards him, “Yondu, would you like to try my… um… whatever this is?”

 

Yondu watched her face as he picked up her fork and pulled the wing off her avian.

 

Kraglin watched as his boss locked eyes with his medic and wondered who would blink first.  Time to make that decision for them.  “ ‘melia?”

 

Amelia turned to Kraglin, “Yes?”

 

“I don’t like these mushrooms, but you might.  You wanna try them?”

 

“Thank you.”  Amelia ate the rest of Kraglin’s mushrooms.

 

—-

It was a good twenty minute walk through the underground tunnel system from the bar to the tailor.  Amelia filled it with small talk asking about the stalls they walked passed.  Czar interrupted what was turning into a heated debate between Dave and Tullk about the best kind of throwing knives to ask Amelia, “Do you like walking? We could have hired transport.”

 

“I love walking.  I wish there was a way to run on the ship.  I miss that from… Terra.  Yondu let me pick out my shoes and I got a special pair for running, but there hasn’t been a chance to use them.”

 

Czar looked down at her Chucks, “These ones?”

 

“Nah, these are for looking awesome.  I like running in these shoes with individual sleeves for each toe.”

 

“That’s just creepy.”

 

Amelia shrugged.  “Better for running over uneven ground.”

 

“Did he get you a pair of boots?”

 

Amelia shook her head, no.

 

Czar turned to Yondu, “Can I buy her a pair of combats, Captain?”

 

“I’ll get them for her.”

 

The tailor wasn’t what Amelia was expecting.  She stood in a booth that scanned her body and made a 3D holographic mock up of it. Then she stood around with nothing to do as Yondu worked with the shop owner to pick out clothes for her.  Kraglin pulled out a deck of cards and the boys sat down to a game.

 

Yondu called her over and pulled a small bundle of pink out of his pocket.  “Go put this on and we’ll scan you again.” He gestured to a change room.

 

It was a matching bra and panty set from Victoria’s secret.  It fit perfectly.  She stood in the change room and thought about that.  She really didn’t want to walk out to the shop in just her underwear.  Objectively, it wasn’t any different than wearing a bikini to the beach…. but it kind of was.

 

There was a flash of purple light.

 

The shop owner called, “You can get dressed now.”

 

That raised some questions about who was watching the change rooms.  She scrambled back into her regular clothes.

 

She wasn't even all the way dressed when Yondu asked, “You want any special symbols or anything on your coat?”

 

“What?”

 

“You want … planet of origin or something on your coat?   Come out here and look at what the boys have.”

 

Everyone had the flame patch.  Dave also had a tree badge.  Czar had something that looked like a spear.  Kraglin had a six point star with long arms, but it was was the same colour as his coat so you had to look hard for it.

 

Amelia thought about this.  “I’m getting a Ravagers coat?”  she asked.

 

They all looked at her like she was an idiot.  “That’s why we are here.” Yondu explained.

 

“Can I have a _Caduceus_?  It’s… a stick with two snakes twisted around it with wings at the top.  It’s a symbol of the god Hermes.”

 

Everyone was suddenly uncomfortable.  Yondu hesitated and chose his words carefully.  “In the bar, you said colour changing drinks was against your religion.  Your gods important to you?”

 

Amelia laughed.  “I’m an atheist.  Although, I do periodically call upon the goddess of weaving and _Nålbinding,_ I know she isn’t real and don’t actually expect divine intervention.  The _Caduceus_ has been used as a symbol of medicine for about a hundred years back home… but that is sort of… well, it was a mistake.  It’s a long story.  Can we just go with ‘it would make me happy to have it on my jacket’ and I’ll explain the rest sometime when I have had too much to drink?”

 

Yondu nodded cautiously.

 

Amelia spend sometime working with the shop keeper to get the logo the way she wanted it.  

 

Then they left.  Clothing would be ready to pick up tomorrow.

 

Amelia looked slightly sick at that.  “Great.  Three more shuttle trips in my immediate future.”

 

Yondu shook his head, “I told Pete we was going dancing tonight.  I ain’t trying to dock a M-class after drinking.”

 

Dave opened his mouth to say something, but Yondu glared at him and said, “Don’t.”

 

Dave shrugged, smirked and suddenly became very interested in the roof of the tunnel.

——

 

Peter met Yondu and Amelia on Yondu’s ship.

 

He was cleaned up, had shaved and was almost vibrating with excitement.  Yondu rolled his eyes.

 

“Dinner first,” he announced.

 

At least most of the crew turned up at the bar Yondu had picked out.  Some had already acquired female companionship. 

 

Dave sat cautiously across from Amelia as the menus were handed out.  He waved his away.  “Hey, Doc?  Can you tell me what’s on offer?”

 

“Sure?  Umm… it’s a long menu… is there anything in particular you like?”

 

“Fish?”

 

“OK.  There is white fish or pink fish or shell fish or aquatic exoskeletons.”

 

“What do they have for pink fish?”

 

“Pan seared in butter with herbs and fresh veg, smoked in a sandwich with roast root veg, raw with sauce, raw and plain or in stew.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

“You are welcome.  Peter, are the exoskeletons safe for Terran’s to eat?”

 

“Yeah they are kind of like a big shrimp or really small lobster, but don't try the knock off clams.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

To Yondu’s disgust, Peter fell easily into the food sharing thing too.  Fuck.  That was going to be a problem.  Slaves don’t share food.  There was never enough to go around.  He got food, he ate food before someone could take it from him.  He didn’t want to be feeding Czar off his plate.  A grown man should be able to feed hisself.

 

Except…  Amelia wasn’t a grown man and in a fight to eat situation, she would lose every time.  Which made it feel… wrong to take her food away.  Because he could.  He could take it all and leave her to starve.  Except maybe that was the point.  She was offering her food and trusting him not to just take it all.  Maybe.

 

He thought about the way she had described food sharing.  A way of showing you cared about the person you were offering to share with.  He could see the advantage of that.  The small person got you used to feeding them when there was lots of food in the hope that it would be habit when the food started to run out. Actually, when he thought about it like that, it was impressively mercenary.

 

Food sharing as a promise to take care of someone.  Yeah.  He could do that.

 

He hesitantly slid his plate in her direction.

 

She gave him a questioning look.

 

He shrugged. And tensed.  She took forkful of his stew. She smiled at him.

 

“That’s really good.  I might have to get that next time.  You should try one of these.”  She pushed her plate towards him.

 

“I don’t eat bugs.” he said with revulsion.  But he took a forkful of her rice for the look of the thing.  “Not bad,” he said.  He realized the whole table was staring at him.  He glared at them and they went back to their dinners.

 

Something has changed with the mutiny.  The crew… well, this part of the crew at least, seemed to be treating her like one of them.  She seemed more confident now.  Kraglin said the girl knew how to run an emergency and had stepped up and bossed everyone in the med bay to get the job done.  He knew she had earned a fair bit of respect from that and he knew his crew.  They gossiped like old women.  Whatever had actually happened in there would have gotten bigger and more impressive with each retelling.

 

Once he got her a uniform, she would… well, ok, if he was honest she would never blend in with the rest of the crew.  But traditionally, Ravagers took care of their own.  It wouldn’t be too hard to get those habits back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Discussion on the Caduceus here:
> 
> https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caduceus_as_a_symbol_of_medicine
> 
> It was originally the symbol of the Hermes, god of trade, eloquence, trickery, travellers, thieves and negotiation and he was the one to usher souls into the underworld. His titles also include: Robber, Captain of Raiders, Thief of the Gates. Or, basically, Yondu.
> 
> Which was too sappy for me to resist.
> 
> Also, think of that next time you see an ambulance. At least locally, they are all driving around with a big "We'll take you to the underworld" symbol on them.
> 
> Also, goddess of weaving and nalbinding = Frigg, Thor's mom. Who Amelia may not believe is real, but is in MCU. I love the idea of her teaching Earthings proto-knitting while Odin was out battling Frost Giants.
> 
> Comments, as always are appreciated.


	27. Dancing Around

When the staff had cleared the dishes and brought everyone a drink, Peter stood up and offered Amelia his hand.

 

“What?”

 

“We have the whole dance floor to ourselves.”

 

Amelia shrugged, took a sip of her drink and stood up.  The crew swivelled in their seats to watch.  “Are you any good?”  She asked Peter.

 

“I am amazing!”  Peter answered and started doing what Amelia would later describe as a full body flail.

“Whoa!  Ok!  Just… just stop.”  She sighed and looked at him.  “You left Terra when you were.. what… ten, I think you said?  Ok.  I’m going to teach you _The Electric Slide_.  Not to hard and no touching required.”

 

“I can know how to do _The Electric Slide!_ ” Peter said, indignantly.

 

“Ok.  Let’s see it.”

 

Peter managed a short grapevine before the leering of the crew got to him.  “I can’t do it with them all watching me.”

 

Amelia rolled her eyes.  “Anyone wanna learn to dance?”

 

Zvi came over, dragging his girl for the evening with him.  A few other people joined them.  And that was how Amelia taught the crew The Electric Slide.  Peter was actually not bad once he had a few other people buying in to the whole thing.  At one point, once they more or less had it, and the turns now have Amelia at the back of the room instead of the front, she actually realized she had about twenty space pirates line dancing in a bar in another solar system.  She started to giggle.

 

“Are you laughing at us?” Czar grumbled.

 

“No!  This is awesome!  I totally should have known that a group of fighters would be able to understand choreography.  You guys are look amazing!”

 

After a couple of songs worth of The Electric Slide, one of the ladies of negotiable affection came over and asked Amelia if there were any other Terran dances she could teach them.

 

There were a few more of the crew who stood up to learn the Texas Two Step after Peter told them it was a the official dance of virile outlaws from Wild and Dangerous Texas.  Amelia managed to avoid rolling her eyes, but just barely.

 

“So.. why don’t you already know this one, Peter?” Kraglin teased.

 

“He’s not from Texas.” Amelia answered like it should have been obvious.

 

Peter made a mental note to thank her for that later.

 

While Amelia was laughing and trying to explain the idea that someone needs to lead, the bar owner came over with a tray of drinks Yondu didn't order and sat down uninvited.  Yondu frowned. 

 

"You bought her a couple of months ago." The man said. "If you are getting ready for a trade in, I'll pay four times what you bought her for."

 

"No."

 

"I wouldn't hurt her. It would be worth money to me to have her teaching this sort of thing."

 

"So get one of your waitresses to learn." Yondu tensed and let his implant light up. 

 

The man got the hint and left. 

 

Amelia left the dance floor but started walking away from him. Yondu was out of his seat and intercepted her shortly after that.  

 

"What you doing?"

 

"Going to pee."

 

"Take someone with you."

 

"Yondu, we don't have any other females on the crew. Who am I supposed to take?"

 

Yondu looked around. "Me."

 

He lead her to the men's room and shouted "Get out!"  There was a scuffle as people left. Yondu pulled her in to the room. Amelia wrinkled he nose, but adjusted her clothes and used one of the squat toilets. 

 

"Can you turned around please?"

 

Yondu did. "I remember when we got Pete. I had to show him how to use one of those."

 

"I could see that. The part of the world he's from exclusively uses sit toilets."  Amelia finished up and washed her hands.   "So, what's the plan for tonight?  Are we just sleeping on the M-class or am I sleeping on the m-class and you are getting a date or are we staying some where else?"

 

"I don't want to leave you on the ship alone."

 

"I promise I won't steal it."

 

"I'll sort something out."

 

"Awesome, because the woman with the silvery eyes was totally checking you out."

 

Yondu stared at her.  "How you feel about that?"

 

Amelia sighed.  "We aren't in port that often.  I don't want you to miss out because of me. "

 

"What do you want?"

 

"Andrei is over at the other table. He already told me he isn't looking to get lucky tonight and I could sleep on The Rusalka any time I need to."

 

"You're ok sleeping on his ship?"

 

"Well, it's my ship too.  We set up a room for me on it."

 

Yondu was shocked by that. He wasn't expecting Andrei to have organized a room for her.  He nodded absentmindedly. 

 

"Great!  Good luck!"  Amelia kissed his cheek and bounced out of the men's room. 

 

Yondu punch the wall and glared at the queue of guys waiting outside the door. 

 

Amelia was talking to Andrei by the time Yondu got back to the table. The older man made eye contact and frowned slightly. Amelia didn't notice but headed back to join Peter on the dance floor.  Yondu ordered another round of drinks. The girl with silvery eyes came over and sat in his lap.  

 

"Do ya wanna take me in the back too?" she whispered in his ear as she stroked the back of his head.  "Or did I already miss out?"

 

\----

 

The Captain was well on his way to being completely shit faced.  Amelia hadn't noticed.  Czar had been watching and had seen her make a point of not noticing as soon as some girl climbed into Yondu's lap.  He made eye contact with Tullk who shook his head then nodded towards Amelia. Czar sighed. He wasn't drunk enough for this. "Andrei!  Let me walk you back to your ship."

 

Tullk, Horuz and Kraglin waited until Amelia and Andrei had left with Czar then got Yondu back to his ship.   The girl he was with tried to tag along. Tullk made some innuendo about the Captain sharing with his crew and she left in a hurry. 

 

It took a couple of tries but they got him in bed, and Kraglin said he would sit with the blue bastard to make sure he stayed there.   It was still reasonably early, so Horuz left the Captain and his first mate and went to find some action. 

 

Kraglin looked at Tullk. "I got this if you want to go too."  

 

"Haven't been sleeping well. I'm for my bed. Maybe I'll sneak away for a while in the morning."

 

\----

 

Yondu woke with a painfully full bladder. He didn't notice the headache until he sat up.  Kraglin was waiting with a bucket. After he finished being sick, he went to the bathroom for a piss and a wash. 

 

Kraglin was waiting with a big glass of water when he came out.  "How much you remember from last night boss?"

 

"Not enough."

 

"You remember the bartender trying' to buy 'melia?"

 

"I said no."

 

"You remember him coming back after that floozy had been pouring drinks down yur throat for a couple of hours?"

 

Yondu winced. "Ok, we steal her back and-"

 

"You still said no, but you weren't happy that we took you home shortly after and you owe Tullk a couple of hours with a working girl."

 

"Ok. I can handle that. She over sleeping on Andrei's ship?"

 

"On her ship, you mean?  Yeah. I think so. Czar went with them."

 

"Czar did?"

 

"Well, you aren't as tolerant of him when yur drunk."

 

Yondu winced. "I'll make it up to him when I see him."

 

Kraglin nodded. 

 

"Anything else I need to fix?"

 

"Did you know Andrei was setting up a room on her ship for her?"

 

"No."

 

"You ain't set up a room for her on your ship."

 

"She don't need one."

 

Kraglin didn't comment on that. "Ready for breakfast?" he asked. 

 

Yondu glared at him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Amelia and Andrei's ship has a theme song:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPEDeWyWgw4
> 
> Rusalka are Russian mermaid/water spirits who drown people


	28. The Morning After

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, it gets worse.

 

Amelia woke up alone in her room. That was new.  It was a pretty bare room. Andrei had found her a carpet and some proper sheets instead of the random combination of wool blankets and furs that seemed to the usual out here.  She buried her nose in the bed and sniffed. It smelled like clean.  She crawled out of bed and wandered out to the kitchen. 

 

Andrei had stocked the kitchen. Amelia was happy to whip up a quiche and start brewing some coffee.  Andrei came out of his room and watched her for a moment. " **I'm not complaining, kitten, because that is one hell of a view, but we have guests. You may want to put on some pants.** "

 

Amelia turned to look at him. "What guests?"  

 

"Czar is here. So are Dave, Zvi and Peter."

 

"Peter has his own ship."

 

"I forgot were I parked it, so Dave just brought us here."

 

Amelia spun and stared at Peter, who was looking a little disheveled as he came out of one of the bunk rooms. "I should go find my pants."

 

"Don't worry about on my account.  I don't mind you with no pants."  Peter gave her the once over then tried to concentrate. "Hey!  I had a nice time last night. It was great the way you got people on the dance floor."

 

Amelia nodded. "How's your head?"

 

"I've been better. Yours?"

 

"I was drinking water.  We should pick up some _Pedialyte_ for the crew. It's the best hangover cure I've found."

 

Czar came out of Andrei’s room and eyed Amelia. 

 

"I'm going to go get my pants."

 

It only took her a moment to get dressed, wash her face and brush her hair and teeth. But there was a table full of guilty looking men and a plate that was bereft of quiche.  "Really?" She asked."You couldn't have saved me even a little piece?"

 

"Don't look at me!" Peter said. "I don't eat that stuff."

 

Andrei held up his plate, made his eyes go big (which looked ridiculous on his grandfatherly face) and said with the worst fake British accent attempting to cover his natural Russian one, " _Please, miss, could I have some more?"_

 

Amelia burst out laughing.   “We don’t have enough eggs for everyone.  We will have to venture out for breakfast.”

 

They all nodded.  Czar roared, “Zvi! Time to move!” 

 

A soft looking, curvy, purple skinned woman with long black hair came out of the last room and was walked to the cargo bay doors by a very handsy Zvi. She hurried off, Zvi walked back with a smug swagger.  

 

Amelia watched him thoughtfully. 

 

"See something you like?"

 

"I just remembered I didn't ever do any follow up with your broken wrist."

 

Zvi shrugged. "You were busy." 

 

Amelia nodded, then turned to Andrei, " **When we were on the ship, you were able to look up how much money I had. Was that real money or just ship credits?"**

 

**"It was real money. Why?  What do you want to buy?"**

 

**"Do I have enough to buy breakfast?"**

 

Andrei laughed **. "Yes. You earned money as a medic during the mutiny and you inherited money for killing the man in the dining hall."**

 

That gave Amelia some pause. " **If we get money for killing each other, how does that work for team unity?"**

 

**"You only get money if there was a grievous violation of ship rules.  If it is just a personal matter you will be fined the cost of replacing the lost crew member or executed.  That is why it was important that you didn't interfere when Yondu was questioning the witnesses that day. It was important that no one could say you influenced him to cover up an unjustified killing.  It is also why we wait two days before distributing the estate.  It gives people a chance to claim a debt the deceased owed them or to bring evidence that the deceased was set up. "**

 

Amelia considered this. **"Do I have enough money to buy hangover medicine and breakfast for everyone here and also the Captain and the other officers?"**

 

Andrei looked at her. " **If you want to. It wouldn't be expected.  And you will have to be careful about offering help to the Captain. It is unusual for him to drink that much and he will be embarrassed as well as hungover.** "

 

Amelia nodded then said to the assembled crew, "Let's go. I want to buy baking and medicine for all of you."

 

\----

 

Yondu limped out of his room torn between looking for someone to yell at and wanting to avoid loud noises.   The small kitchen/dinning room on the ship was full of people and the table was full of food.  The smell was not comforting just now.  

 

Kraglin was in the shower, but Amelia was there, wearing Andrei’s jacket, and Horuz, Czar, Tullk, Oblo, Peter, Dave, Andrei and Zvi were all chatting quietly around a table meant for half that many.

 

Amelia smiled at him and waved him over.  He kicked Zvi out of the chair next to her and sat down.  She leaned over and offered him her hand.  He took it.  That was kinda nice.  Until she started groping his wrist with her other hand, that was kinda weird.

 

“Whatcha doing?”

 

“My job.” she said.  She put a med patch on his wrist and poured him a big glass from one of the bottles on the table.  “Drink this.  You will start to feel better in about 15 minutes.”

 

“It tastes… weird.”

 

“Drink it anyway.”

 

Yondu did.  In a few minutes he was ready to eat something.  “Gimme one of those egg puck things.”  Amelia put together a plate with an egg puck, some fruit, some cheese and a weird bread thing.  It was all pretty good.  “Who organized breakfast?”

 

They all looked at Amelia, who blushed a little and said, “I did.”

 

Yondu frowned.  “Tell me what I owe you for that, and we’ll settle up when we get to the ship.”

 

Amelia’s face froze.  Andrei coughed. Yondu looked between them realized he was missing something and turned to Tullk instead.  “I hear I owe you for a couple of hours of … entertainment.”

 

Tullk who had been watching the whole scene with a look of dangerous amusement said, “Nah, boss.  I’d rather have a favour I can keep in my back pocket in case of emergency.  That would suit me just fine.”

 

Yondu didn’t like the sound of that.  “No.  We are leaving at the end of the day.  Cash in your chips before wheels up or walk away from the debt.  You have time to find a girl to spend the afternoon with.”

 

“I have something in mind, but this might not be the best time to bring it up.”

 

Yondu’s eyes narrowed. “I know what you want.  Spit it out so I can say no.”

 

Tullk quickly said, “No!  Not like that!  I would never steal from you boss, and I wouldn’t hurt her!  I’ve had plenty of opportunities if that was all I was after.”

 

Amelia was watching this exchange in confusion and asked, “Wait!  What?”

 

Andrei shook his head and pressed his lips together.

 

“Well?” Yondu demanded.

 

“If she asks, I want permission to say yes.”

 

“If she asks.  If Amelia asks you.”

 

Amelia locked eyes with Andrei who was slowly shaking his head in a s subtle no.  She clenched her fists.

 

“Yes, boss.”

 

“You want me to be ok with you fucking her, if she asks you.”  Yondu was livid, only the tail end of the hangover keeping him from whistling.

 

“We are Ravagers.  We don’t traffic in slaves.  If she asks me, like one of the crew, I want to be able to say yes or no, like she is one of the crew.”

 

As pissed off as Yondu was, he had never seen Amelia that angry.  She was still staring at Andrei with a look of pure, unadulterated rage.

 

Yondu considered his next words very carefully.  “We don’t traffic in slaves and I am not her pimp.  It’s her body.  If she asks you, not under duress.  It isn’t my concern.  But if she gets hurt or is unhappy with your performance or you pressure her into anything.  I’ll kill you slow.  Understand?”

 

“Yes, boss.  Thank you, boss.”

 

At that point Amelia turned on Tullk, anger radiating from every pore.  “At some point, Bad Wolf,  you and I are going to have a discussion that you won’t enjoy very much.”

 

“”I would expect so.  I can live with that.  I can be patient.”

 

Amelia stood up so fast her chair fell over.  She slammed both hands on the table and lean forward towards Tullk before snarling something angry and guttural in a language he didn’t understand.  She turned and stormed out of the kitchen.

 

Czar stood up, lifted Zvi bodily from his seat and literally dragged the boy after her.

 

Andrei snorted.

 

Tullk looked at Yondu and asked.  “What she say?”

 

“Damned if I know.  It’s not a language I speak.”

 

They both turned to Peter, who shrugged.  

 

When they looked at Andrei, he asked, “Do you want the literal translation or the interpretation so you idiots can understand it?”

 

Neither of them said anything.

 

Andrei explained, “If you are going to talk about a woman’s body like it is a commodity you are entitled to, for fuck's sake, do it where she can’t hear you.”

 

Peter asked, “But what did she say?”

 

Andrei started to laugh, “She said, ‘So can I.’”

 

——

 

Andrei waited until he could get Yondu alone to ask, “Do you have a plan to fix this?”

 

“She’s pissed at Tullk not at me.”

 

“Last night you got drunk with a whore who was basically dry humping you for hours while Amelia watched.  This morning you insulted her gift of breakfast and suggested you spent the night with a girl Tullk paid for.  Then you said it wouldn't bother you if she fucks other guys and you think she is only mad at Tullk?” Andrei asked incredulously.

 

“I’m saying I’m giving her control of her own body instead of having me dictate what she can and can’t do with it!”

 

“You need to find her and explain it like that, because that sure as hell wasn’t how it sounded.  She is yelling at Tullk because she can.  If you don’t care what happens to her, then she can’t yell at you in case you throw her to the crew.”

 

“I would never do that!”

 

“Then find her and tell her that!”

 

“She told me to have fun with the girl at the bar!  Hell, she wished me luck!”

 

“And you believed her?  That was your chance to tell her she was the one you wanted and you fucked up.”

 

“You saying she tricked me?”

 

“NO!  I’m saying that she was probably thinking that either you would tell her she didn’t need to worry, or she was feeling insecure and thought that it would hurt less when you abandoned her if she pretended to be ok with it.”

 

Yondu groaned.  “Chicks are fucked up.”

 

“People are fucked up.  When you go to fix this it will go a whole lot better if you aren’t blaming the problem on her.”

 

“So what do I say?”

 

“Just tell her what happened from your point of view and explain it carefully so it doesn’t sound like ‘I started thinking with my dick.’  All that shit was about something.  Baggage you have.  Time to start unpacking some of it to show her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK. NOW Yondu can fix this.
> 
> Thank you for your patience. Comments are appreciated.


	29. The Shovel Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Can you see the chapter summery when you subscribe? I haven't been filling them out, but I will if you can see it.

Amelia was livid about the whole thing.  But what did she expect?  Living as the personal property of a fucking space pirate!  Of course he was going to treat her like this!  She thought she was making some progress there.  He had mostly stopping calling her girl in that stupid, dismissive, ‘I out rank you so much, you don’t even have a rank’ kind of way.

 

She may have been deep in her thoughts, cussing Yondu out in every language she knew, but she wasn’t so distracted that when someone brushed passed her, she didn’t shove him to the ground and scream “Give it Back!”

 

Which is how Amelia ended up with a blaster pointed at her head.

 

Suddenly, Czar-Doon was standing behind her.  He was tall enough that her head barely reached past the tip of his sternum.  He looked over the top of her to the kid holding the gun and said, “She belongs to Ravager Captain Yondu Udonta.  You will want to consider your next move carefully.”

 

The kid froze.

 

“I suggest you drop the item you took from her and leave.” Czar continued.

 

The would be pickpocket scrambled away, dropped the book Yondu had given Amelia and rabbited away.

 

Amelia picked it up, ran her hand over it, tucked it into the inside pocket of Andrei’s coat and fastened the front of the coat so it would be harder to get.  Then she turned to Czar.  “What are you doing here?”

 

“The docks are an unsafe part of a dangerous port.  You should not be out here alone.  Pickpockets are the least of they threats you will face. If you are damaged or lost or killed, Yondu will break and I do not desire to see what sort of monster he will rebuild himself into out of the pieces.”

 

Amelia swallowed, “OK.  So what is he doing here?” she pointed at Zvi, who shrugged.

 

“Don’t look at me!  I don’t mind tagging along, but he drug me from the kitchen this time.”

 

Czar hesitated.  “You are angry at Tullk which means you do not understand what happened.  When I answer why Zvi is here, you still won’t understand without me explaining the history that brought us to this point.  That is a great and terrible story of many years. It will take some time to tell and you still have not eaten today.  Allow me to give you the gift of breakfast.”

 

Amelia nodded.  Czar lead her and Zvi away from the docks, passed the warehouse district, and into a tea house in a much posher part of town.  The fussy looking woman at the front desk sneered at them.  “I think you have the wrong address.”

 

Czar shook his head and demanded, “Give us a table in the back, a pot of coffee and the four most popular items on your menu!” He looked at Amelia and remembered to add, “Please.”

 

The woman, who’s name tag claimed she was named Rosie looked at Amelia who shrugged.

 

Rosie, sucked her teeth is disgust.  “Fine! A table in the back and if you upset any of the other customers, I’m calling the Watch.”

 

Once they were seated, Czar waited until they had been served to ask Amelia, “Have you ever seen a picture of a Centaurian?”

 

“Sure?”

 

“Of an unaltered Centaurian?”

 

“What do you mean ‘unaltered’?”

 

Czar held out his hand.  “Give me your book.”

 

Amelia did.  He pulled up an article on Centaurians and handed it back to her.

 

“Centaurians have a fin that runs from the crown of their skulls down the back of their neck and almost to their waist line, in some cases.  There was a rumour that consuming Centaurian fins would increase male virility.  So, about forty-five years ago, the Badoon, my people, went to Centauri and committed genocide.  We slaughtered and butchered the males.  We raped and mutilated the women and children.  Aside from the sale of the fins, once they were removed them Centaurians looked more like Kree and were more saleable as slaves.  I have not ever spoke of it with Yondu, but the balance of probability is that one of his earliest memories is of someone who looked very much like me holding him down and peeling the skin from his spine.

 

“Despite this, Yondu has been careful to treat me no differently that any other crew member.  When we split from the other Ravager clans, I came with him because of this.  When your species is known for warcrimes and genocide it is difficult to … gain reasonable employment.

 

“Zvi is here because I respect Yondu and I would offer him the kindness of guarding his mate.  I also want him to never have to unbidden thoughts on the possibility that I would turn on you and you might try to hid it from him.  Zvi is your chaperone.”

 

Amelia considered this while eating a piece of tort.  Zvi looked like he was going to be sick.

 

“You said my being angry with Tullk meant that I did not understand what was being said.  Can you explain it to me?”

 

Czar, popped a whole tort into his mouth, stretched and put his hands behind his head and leaved back in his chair, chewing thoughtfully.  “Not well,” he said finally.

 

“I got this one.” Zvi said.  “Yondu bought you as a slave, yeah?  Tullk used his favour to buy you control of who you mate with.  As a slave you would be required to fuck who ever Yondu told you to and abstain when he denied you.  Tullk wasn’t demanding sex, he was demanding that Yondu give up control over that.  At least a little bit.  In his case, you get to decide.”

 

Czar considered this.  “Tullk has been… careful with you.  I believe this may be a declaration of his desire to court you.  He did not ask for you unwilling.  He could have but he is not so blind as to think Yondu would consider that acceptable. He asked to be allowed to try to seduce you.”

 

Amelia ducked her head and contemplated her coffee.  “And Yondu said yes.”

 

Czar frowned. “You still do not understand.  Yondu does not believe Tullk will succeed. It was a declaration of his faith in you that he said yes.  But also an understanding that if he is unable to completely satisfy you himself, that Yondu will accept your judgement that Tullk would be an acceptable choice.  Should you ask him.”

 

Czar looked hard at Amelia.  Then he turned to Zvi and said, “If you ever repeat this to anyone, I will find you and I will rape you to death. Do you understand?”

 

Zvi swallowed and nodded.

 

“Do you believe me when I say this?”

 

Looking at Czar, the blood draining from his face, Zvi nodded again.

 

Czar nodded once, then turned back to Amelia.  “I know that Yondu is physically incapable of fucking your cunt without significantly damaging you.  Centaurian males were sometimes used to torture women this way.  I know he would not choose to do so.  He will have been working your ass while you make do with fingers and tongue and maybe Kraglin’s dick, if Yondu was feeling generous.  None the less, do not seek out Tullk until you and Yondu have come to an arrangement about that.

 

“It would have been easy for Yondu to be careless with you.  It would have be easy for him to agree to Tullk’s request if he was not emotionally invested in you.  I do not believe the Captain would intentionally hurt you.  I will not allow you to hurt him twice.  Do you understand?”

 

Amelia nodded, took the last piece of bacon and said, “You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

 

Czar and Zvi played with their messengers, while Amelia finished breakfast in silence.  Aside from being appalled about what the Badoon had admitted to, she now had to quickly get her head around it and move on.  Yondu would not forgive her any sympathetic behaviour she directed towards him.

 

It was also both the simplest and yet most terrifyingly complicated shovel talk she had ever been given.  They finished up and Czar asked if she wanted anything else before paying the bill and leading them through the tunnels.

 

Amelia was surprised when they arrived at The Tailors.  Czar spoke with the proprietor.  Amelia tried on her new clothing for Czar and Zvi’s approval.  The several pairs pants were a straight up knock off of her Levi’s but in Ravager Red leather with either straight leg or tapered.  There were some form fitting shirts in both long and short sleeves and some snug tank tops

 

There was something that was a corset/tank top hybrid that zipped up the front and laced up the back. It covered her from her anterior superior iliac spine’s to the bottom of her manubrium in the front and from the top of her sacrum to mid scapula blades in the back.   It was fairly tight around her trunk but merely sung over her breasts.  She did a couple to swivels and touched her toes to see if it restricted her movement.  It did not.

 

“It’s an anti-projectile vest.” the tailor explained.

 

“Huh.”  Amelia said.

 

There was also a motorcycle style jacket and a long duster like the one Yondu always wore.

 

The last thing she was given was bundled in paper and the tailor instructed her to try it on, see if it needed adjusting, then change out of it with out leaving the changed room.  Amelia blushed expecting it to be lingerie.  And… it was… sort of.  It was a pair of Ravager red, low rise Jessica Simpson style Daisy Dukes.  Amelia gaped at them.  They made her ass look amazing but…

 

“Everything Ok in there?” The tailor called.

 

“Um… yup.  They fit fine.  I feel ridiculous, but they fit.”

 

“Get dressed.  I’ll pack it all up and have everything delivered to your ship.”

 

“Awesome.  It’s The Eclector and-“

 

“Captain Udonta was very clear that I was to deliver them to The Rusalka.”

 

“Oh!  Um… yes.  My ship.  Thanks.  That would be great.”

 

As she came out of the change room, Czar explained,  “He had to be the first one back to the Eclector.  We will shuttle back on your ship.  Andrei and Dave can pilot for us.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized I needed to explain Badoon (in this AU) because Amelia doesn't exactly have an entourage. But also because there isn't really a way for her to have this information unless Czar-doon fesses up.
> 
> Yondu will still fix this. I have most of that chapter written, but we needed this info first.
> 
>  
> 
> Feed the muse.


	30. Unpacking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amelia the Ravager

Kraglin was waiting on the flight deck when they docked.  

 

Andrei had insisted Amelia change into her new clothing before they left.  Czar had disagreed in a loud and threatening manner.  Both Andrei and Dave had refused to depart unless she was wearing Ravager garb.  Czar was not a pilot.

 

Andrei won.

 

Amelia was wearing a pink tank top, the corset/vest, the legging cut leather pants and a pair of combat boots that Czar had bought her.

 

It was flattering, in a bad-ass kind of way, it showed off her curves to full effect.  It took her a moment to work up the nerve to come out of her room.

 

“How to do I look?” she asked.

 

Andrei whistled.

 

Dave cocked his head to one side.  “It’s missing something.”  He went and dug in his bag and came up with a couple of coins.  He wandered off to the small on board maintenance bay and drilled a tiny hole into the top of each coin, then threaded through a piece of wire and made a jump ring.  “You have some yarn with you or is that a stupid question.  

 

Amelia pulled out the emergency ball of sock yarn she had stashed on the ship.  Dave cut about a 20 inch length, threaded it through the coins and tied it on to make a 16 inch necklace with tiny bow.

 

Amelia looked in the mirror.  The coins were different sizes and made a gentle tinkling sound when she adjusted them.  It was kind of pretty, it drew attention to her neck line but…

 

“Czar?  You didn’t want me dressing up before we get to the ship.  Why not?”

 

“You look like one of the crew.  That will help keep them from interfering with you.  But you also look capable and slightly dangerous and …”

 

“And the Captain has a type.” finished Dave.  “You meet him looking like that and he will be clearing the room to get at you.  You will be able to demand an apology and get it.”

 

Amelia frowned.  “How to I dress to be half way between that and my usually squishy Terran self?”

 

After some back and forth, they took away the vest and added the tailored motorcycle length jacket.

 

Czar nodded. “Walk proud.  Stand tall and if he upsets you, take off the jacket.”

 

“Why?”

 

“You have sexy arms.”

 

Amelia blushed.  But that was then and this was now. She still felt slightly sick from the flight and Kraglin was standing there, watching the ship.

 

“ **Remember kitten: shoulders back, boobs out.** ” Andrei gave her ass a smack on his way passed.  She frowned at him.  “ **Yes!** ” he said.  “ **That is the expression you are looking for!** ”

 

They made Zvi carry her things.

 

Kraglin led as they marched through the halls.  Amelia kept her eyes front.  Someone cat called before they even made it to the other side on the flight deck.  Amelia froze and turned to look.

 

“Knix!  If that was for me, you are quickly loosing any good will you had previously earned!”  She took a breath.  “On the other hand, if that was for Czar, he wasn’t able to find a date on the surface and you should just speak to him directly.”

 

There was a roar of laughter. Czar whispered, “Well done.”

 

Word raced ahead of the party and there were plenty of people peeking from hallways and doorways at them.  No one else said a thing.

 

They marched to the bridge.  Yondu was sitting in the Captain’s chair with his back to them.  Kraglin cleared his throat.

 

“I want a word with my medic.” Yondu said.  Not turning to look at him.  “If you aren’t the medic.  This is you cue to leave.”

 

Everyone except Amelia and Kraglin left.  Amelia stepped her feet apart and stood in parade rest, her shoulders back, boobs out and a thousand yard stare out the window.

 

Yondu still didn’t turn around.  Kraglin locked the door and announced, “We’re clear, sir.”

 

There was a soft sigh from the chair.  This wasn’t going to be easy.  Yondu was not good at apologizing and this time it mattered.  A flippant, sorry/not sorry response wasn’t going to work. “I aint any good at apologizing but Andrei…. But I acted like an idiot this morning.  It wasn’t my intention to insult your gift when you bought me breakfast.  I…  I’m not good at accepting gifts and taking food from you is going to be hard for me.”  Now the chair spun and he was bowed forward.  His forearms resting on his knees, his head bowed.  “I’m not used to having people share food with me, and I’m sure as hell not comfortable that I should be taking food away from a female.”

 

He looked up and completely lost his train of thought.  She wasn’t looking at him.  She was looking out the window and frowning slightly.  He cleared his throat and looked at Kraglin, who was not even being subtle about checking out the girls ass.  Right.  He needed to get back to his prepared speech.  This was not the time to compliment what she was wearing or run his hands over her to check the fit.

 

“Umm…” fuck!  Concentrate you miserable son of a bitch! “I kind of grew up in a ‘grab what you can’ situation in terms of food distribution and taking your food is… well, it feels like a sign of disrespect.  Like I’m rubbing your face in the fact that I can take you food.  I dint understanding that I was dishonouring you by refusing a gift.  I thought I was… not taking advantage.”

 

Amelia swallowed and was frowning a little less after he said that.

 

“I was jealous that you were dancing with Peter last night.  And I know that was stupid.  But then that girl came over and I thought… I don’t know what I thought.  But she was interested and I don’t got a lot of pull with the ladies anymore.  I got distracted and I drank too much and… Tullk had to abandon his plans to get me back to my ship.  This morning I was hungover and embarrassed and I didn’t handle any of that well.”

 

Yondu stood up and walked over to her so that he was standing in front of her, her fixed stare catching him in the chest.  He reached up to touch her cheek, then let his hand fall before he made contact.

 

“I don’t want you fucking Tullk.”  OK, that was way more angry sounding than he was trying for.  Deep breath, try again. “I don’t want that.  But I don’t want to be the one who orders… who… I don't dictate what you do with your body.  I would not tell you that you had to fuck someone, so it seems wrong to tell you aren't allowed to either.  You get to make that decision and I-“

 

She broke position, leaned forward across the ten or so inches between them and hugged him tight.

 

Yondu hugged her back this time.

 

“I want you.” she whispered, “but I can’t…  I’m afraid.  It isn't fair for me to expect you to wait when I don’t know if I will ever be able to …” her shoulders started to shake.

 

Yondu stroked her back.  “Ok.  It’s ok.  I ain’t demanding anything from you.”

 

Kraglin glared at his boss, who shook his head.

 

Kraglin ignored him.  “ ‘melia?  He wants to touch you but is afraid to scare you.  You let him as much as you can and know he will stop when you tell him, ‘kay?”

 

Yondu started to say, “You don’t have to do that.”  but Amelia was nodding into his chest before he got the second word out.

 

“I like it when you rub my feet or back or comb my hair.”

 

“I can work with that.”  He took a deep breath and said, “What can I do to get you to believe I will stop when you need me too?  I ain’t some wet behind the ears kid who is going to be over come with sight of his first set of titties.  You say stop and I will.”

 

Amelia shook her head.  “It isn’t fair for me to be testing you like that.”

 

Now Yondu stepped away and gently turned her chin up to look at him.  “You won’t be testing me.  You would be testing yourself to see what you can tolerate.  If I need to stop, I will.  Don’t you worry about that.”

 

Amelia nodded.

 

“Was your plan really to keep me as a medic?”

 

“It is now.”  Yondu ran his fingers over the improvised necklace.  “I don’t recognize these coins.  Where did you get this?”

 

“Dave made it for me.  One is a _Canadian penny_ and the other is a _Danish 50 öre._ I’m not sure where he got them.”

 

Yondu frowned slightly and stroked her neck and earlobes. 

 

Amelia searched his face.  “This is one of those important things that I’m not going to understand, isn’t it?”

 

Yondu pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her.  “I guess we will just have to figure it out together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because Denmark also has bigfoot sightings and other reasons


	31. Epilogue

Amelia was scanning Zvi’s arm.  “The BoneMend is holding up well.  You will be fine to return to full duty tomorrow.”

 

Winch nodded.  “Thanks, Doc.  Kid has potential.  I’ll be glad to have him back.”

 

As they left, Amelia stuck her head out the door and looked at the queue.  “Next!” she called.

 

A six foot plus tall lizard man walked sheepishly into the med bay.  “Hi Doc.”

 

“Hey Brahl.  What can I do for you?”

 

He turned around and showed her the air nail sticking out of the back of his shoulder.

 

“Well, now.  How did you manage that?”

 

“It was an accident, Doc.”

 

“OK, well, let's figure out how to get it out of there.”

 

Brahl nodded.  “I’m glad you’re here taking care of us, Doc.”

 

Amelia smiled.  “Me too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all folks. The story continues in Alone, but the rating is E. You've been warned, although there will still be only a little smut and a whole lot of relationship stuff.

**Author's Note:**

> Feed the muse. Just because this work is finished doesn't mean I don't still love getting comments. Plus, they always help me improve as a writer. So, if you are reading this and liking it, please still free to comment on any chapter you particularly like. Or if something seems fishy, please (politely) let me know. I am more than willing to go back and edit for clarity.


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